


Sons of the Patriot

by LadyGinoza



Category: Psycho-Pass
Genre: Death, Insanity, Torture, am I known for anything sane?, avengers cross over, m afraid, m crazy at this point I, nope I
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 06:27:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12315582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyGinoza/pseuds/LadyGinoza
Summary: What is the truth in a world forged on lies and deceit?





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Akane**

Time is a strange thing. As you live your life one day at a time, it doesn’t feel like things ever change. It’s only when I look back at everything I had to go through that I realize exactly how much has changed in the past sixteen years. It’s only then that I can feel proud at how much this world has evolved.

I have to admit that it was a shock when I learned the true nature of the Sibyl system. I never thought the system who was fundamental to our everyday lives and shaped our society was managed by hundreds of latent criminals’ brains. Criminals exactly like that of Makishima and the very thought scared me a little but it came to pass in due time.

It’s hard to believe all the things that happened within sixteen years. The many confrontations I’ve had to battle out with the system. All of my internal battles I had to vanquish. So many times I felt like giving up but I never could bring myself to quit. There was always something that kept pushing me to continue. There was always something that kept me going and the end result was so worth it.

After sixteen years, I won my biggest battle and that is the freedom of the MWPSB’s Enforcers. Now they can live ordinary lives just like everyone else without having to be placed on a leash like some haunting dog. They can now live within society with ease and without being branded as a criminal.

The Enforcers are now viewed as humans and they strongly excel in the field even more now since they’ve gain the taste of freedom once again. But, although this change is so huge. The biggest change that the Sibyl system did was when they reinstated Mr. Masaoka as an active Inspector instead of an Enforcer. It was in that moment that I knew I had finally won the battle.

The journey to this triumph was long and hard with so many heartaches that followed. So many lives were lost in order to reach this peace. A true peace that the Sibyl system is now creating, a peace that should always have been to begin with. The system now has a better sense of justice with a much wiser logic and that makes it worth defending.

“You shouldn’t work yourself so hard Mr. Masaoka.” I say as I take my gaze away from my monitor to look at my partner.

“Work is all I have left, little Missy.” He replies back as he pushes himself slightly away from his desk.

I study Mr. Masaoka’s expression and all I see is that same sorrowful look in his eyes. Ever since that day, the joy in his eyes have completely vanished and sometimes I feel like he’s just waiting to die and that breaks my heart.

Mr. Masaoka doesn’t have to say what is on his mind, I just know. It’s always the same thing and that thought will never go away. All of those painful memories, all because of that fateful day. The day that tore his heart apart and it never healed and I don't think it ever will. To this day, his heart has remained cracked from when it shattered. No matter what, no matter how hard I try, those cracks just can’t be filled in. Although, the physical injuries have healed with all due time. The heart never recovered from the emptiness of that loss and I don't think it ever will.

Who am I kidding…

No one was ever able to recover from that day. It left a scar that will never go away in all of our hearts. The Makishima case took so much out of everyone. No one were ever the same afterwards. Makishima took so much but for those who survived his chaos, it only made us stronger as a team.

“That’s not true Mr. Masaoka. You are free; you’re not seen as a haunting dog anymore.” I state as I give him a soft smile but I know that won’t help. I know he’d trade his freedom away if he could go back in time.

“At my age, there’s only one thing left.” He replies back much to my dismay. “I appreciate the attempt to change the mood.” He adds returning a forced smile.

“I miss him too.” I admit with a heavy heart as my gaze fall onto a picture on Mr. Masaoka’s desk with a younger Mr. Masaoka and a blacked haired boy. They had seem so happy back then, if only it could have lasted.

It’s no secret that I didn’t get along very well with Mr. Ginoza. We had different point of views on certain matters which caused friction between us. But, he always had my best interest at heart. It’s just, back then I failed to see that. I was so blinded and most of his pain was caused by my own selfishness and I regret it so much. I never gave Mr. Ginoza any chance and I wish I had. I feel like there was always a part of him that I never got to know because I never allowed him to show it to me.

It came as a complete shock when Mr. Ginoza suddenly went missing in the heat of the chasse. I never thought that Makishima would have dared to target my partner. I didn’t think he’d go that far to ensure his plan would be a success. The whole incident was a complete nightmare from start to finish.

I can’t even start to imagine how Mr. Masaoka must have felt like in that moment. How terrible it must have been when he was trying to stop Mr. Ginoza from bleeding out while he himself was severely injured. He tried so desperately to save his son even if it meant losing his own but in the end he failed.

The horror that followed afterwards once everything was over and Makishima was dead, still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Mr. Ginoza’s death was the biggest blow to the division. Not because we failed to save him but by the fact that we don’t know what happened. To this day, Mr. Ginoza’s death remains a complete mystery. The only last recollection of Mr. Ginoza being alive is from Mr. Masaoka’s last memories before he passed out from blood lost. According to Mr. Masaoka, Ginoza was alive. Struggling to live as he gasped for air but he was alive.

The memories of his body near Mr.Masaoka as I found them still haunts me at night...

“Having freedom now doesn’t feel sweet after burying your child.” Mr. Masaoka states with a tone hinting at his sadness and that’s something I can understand. I don’t know what I would do if something were to happen to my son. I don’t think I could bare it and it’s not even a thought I want to linger on. I don’t ever want to think of something like that ever happening to my beloved baby boy.

It’s strange how before, all I cared about was my job. To make society a better place but everything changed after my son was born. My priorities completely changed after that beautiful day. I’ll do anything to keep him safe for he is my whole world. Nothing is more important in this world than my child.

“I will find the truth. I’ll find out who murdered Mr. Ginoza. I swear it.” I declare and I will.

“So what’s new?”

Kougami’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I wish for once he would put in more care into his appearance. By all means, he’s an Enforcer of Division 1 and he has his freedom like all the others. He’s no longer seen as a latent criminal. He is seen for what he is, a detective but he still dresses like a total slob.

I thought once he would have been restored to grace, it would have encouraged him to have a cleaner appearance but no. Looking at him now, I can’t help but wonder what I ever saw in him so many years ago. He’s clearly not even close to husband material and I hate his smoking habits.

“Nothing Kou.” Mr. Masaoka answers back in his usual calm tone of his but it's no longer the same as before. He’s no longer the same as he was with Kougami back when I had first met them. Mr. Masaoka won’t admit it but there’s some resentment towards Kougami and in a way I can understand him. I feel the same way in a sense. Kougami was more focused on getting Makishima instead to stop in order to help his friend. In a way, I blame Kougami for Mr. Ginoza's death. If he had stopped to help, I know Ginoza would still be alive and from what I was told by Sibyl, Mr. Ginoza would have been given a promotion. He wouldn't be working within Division 1 anymore but all the divisions would have answered to Mr. Ginoza and he alone would have been communicating with Chief Kasei.

To be honest though, I always wondered what kind of interest Sibyl had towards Mr. Ginoza when I was told this. I understand that Mr. Ginoza in terms of seniority, it would make sense to choose him. He was an excellent inspector and he always placed the greatest of care into his work so I know that he would have excelled in that position. However, Ms. Aoyanagi would also have made an excellent candidate for that same position. Strange enough, she wasn't even considered for that position by Sibyl. Sometimes, the more I think about, it feels as if that position was intended to keep Mr. Ginoza closely monitored by the system. Almost as if it was the system's way to keep an even tighter grip over everyone by keeping someone close as some sort of hostage. Considering the state of the system back then, it could have been highly possible but why? I don't think I'll ever get an answer to that question and quite frankly, I don't think I want to know that piece of reality. The only comfort I have in all of this is that Mr. Ginoza is no longer suffering.

“Hopefully it stays that way.” Teppei’s voice booms into the room as he enters and walks over towards me and I feel the aura of the room suddenly changed.

Teppei gently places a cup of coffee onto my desk before placing a soft kiss onto my cheek and I can’t help but smile at his gesture. He’s so loving and sweet. I never thought I could ever love a man the way I love him. He is my best friend, my closest confidant, my soulmate and he’s just the greatest in the world. He is the father of my child and I couldn’t be any happier to be his wife.

“Paris has been rather peaceful as of late.” Mr. Masaoka quickly replies back and that is true.

Peace has indeed taken over the city of Paris but we can’t take all of the credit. This peacefulness isn’t all due to the Sibyl system. We’re not the only organization who is trying to take over this beautiful city of Paris. The Agents of SHIELD are a powerful presence in this city and they are without a doubt a dominating force.

Their ways of justice and managing the law is highly effective. It overshadows the Sibyl system’s when it comes to justice but they’re not beating us yet. For what we still lack in the Justice department, we make up in a better way of living for a larger scale of citizens and our academic achievements are undisputed.

When it comes to choosing which is better, we are at a tie. There are just as much citizens who wants to be governed by SHIELD than the ones who wishes to have the Sibyl system take over. So far, neither side seem to be failing.

I personally don’t mind the agents of SHIELD. They are quite capable in the field but it’s the way they get things done that worries me a bit. They can be quite brutal when taking criminals down. The agents are given orders from their top brass and they carry it out without question.

“A quick notice. It would seem the special ops of SHIELD are being assigned to Paris in the next few weeks from now.” Mr. Masaoka alerts and that surely can’t be good for us when it comes to trying to gain the whole of Paris under the Sybil’s control.

I’ve never had the pleasure to meet the special ops on the field but from what I’ve heard here and there. They're not a squadron to be messed with. But, when it comes to the special ops coming to a specific location, it usually means something terrible is lurking about. Normally they are sent to remote locations to free territories that are plagued by terrorism.

The special ops in SHIELD don’t deal with minor conflicts. All they deal with are terrorist related incidents so if they are coming here it can only mean that a group of madmen have infiltrated the city. We better stay on high alert and if possible we have to subdue the targets before the special ops intervene. If we can manage that, it will show the population that are still resisting us that we are just as capable to protect them than SHIELD.

“Bunch of bastards.” Kougami snaps back as he takes his seat.

“Did you have contact with the special ops in the past Kougami?” I ask, catching his attention. Considering everything he’s done ever since leaving Japan so many years ago. It wouldn’t surprise me if he had some sort of confrontation with them at some point in the past.

“Yeah and it wasn’t a pleasant experience to say the least.” Kougami answers. “Although it came at a price, I was able to learn a few things from them.” He adds as he takes out a cigarette and lights it as he takes a long drag.

“Like what?” I ask as I try to ignore the scent of his cigarette that is quickly starting to take over the office.

“You’ll never find an agent alone. They are always in a pair and if you don’t know that, you’re in trouble.” Kougami explains and continues, “So if you come across one, you can bet your ass that there’s another one lurking around just waiting to pounce on you.”

I have to say that it is interesting but it does make sense. It’s way more efficient to work as a team than solo. You can also cover more ground that way. No matter how you look at it, SHIELD does know how to function when out on the field in order to minimize casualties and personnel fatalities. They have an edge over us and we need to catch up and fast otherwise we're going to lose another city.

“You’re still alive so it has to mean something.” Teppei states but I can sense the sarcasm in his tone as he spoke those words. Those two, Kougami and my beloved just can’t seem to get along no matter what I do. They’re always trying to outdo one another but Teppei is my favourite. There's no contest there. Well no matter what, Kougami will never be able to compete against Teppei even if he would try. My husband is simply better in every possible way.

“Barely.” Kougami shoots back before setting his cigarette down on the ashtray. He stands up and starts opening his shirt, revealing a nasty scar on his left side of his abdomen. “This is what they did to me before leaving me to die.” He adds.

The scar is more than just a slash. It looks like the blade that was used penetrated into Kougami’s uper abdomen and sliced down towards his lower abdomen before the blade was twisted inside the wound. It’s amazing that Kougami even survived that.

“I ran into this monster of a man. He was dressed in the usual SHIELD stealth uniform with all the combative gear, equipment and topped with a balaclava. The guy was huge and hell was he a damn good fighter.” Kougami recounts. “Physically he was stronger than me and his skills in combat was much sharper but all I know about the man is the name that was stitched onto his sleeve. It was just Hawkeye and you can bet I’ll never forget it.” He adds as he buttons back his shirt but it doesn’t really explain the scar. If Kougami had a fist fight with that agent, it’s impossible that he received such an injury. I know there’s more to the story.

“How did you get such an injury Kougami?” I ask the rather obvious question.

“The bastard’s partner happened. He stabbed me from behind. I didn’t see the midget until I got stabbed.” Kougami quickly replies back and that explains it but knowing Kougami, he must have done something to provoke the agent into a brawl. I don’t think the agent would have stopped what he was doing just to pick a pointless fight with an unknown individual that possessed no threat to his persona. And not to mention, his partner also felt like Kougami was a threat and went in to assist. There’s always two side to every story and I can just imagine the kind of things Kougami was doing back then too considering what he was doing when I found him in Shambala.

“A midget took you down?” Teppei asks, not bothering to hide his laughter which only helps to stir Kougami’s annoyance.

“Hey! I’m lucky to be alive. Not only did the midget sucker stabbed me, he coated his knife with venom.” Kougami further explains. “It was a good thing that my comrades recognized the duo and was able to identify the midget to be an agent codenamed Cobra. An agent that uses venom as their signature weaponry. Without them I would have died.” He adds and the thought of the ferocity the agents of SHIELD possess is rather frightening. But then again, if they have to deal with terrorist organization on regular basis, I guess being ferocious is required otherwise they would not live long.

There’s a lot of things that I don’t know about Kougami after he left Japan. I know he must have done things that were pretty unorthodox during his time as a mercenary but by the injury he received, the agents had full intention on killing him during that confrontation. Well, they didn’t try to kill him per say but they were more than willing to leave him to die which doesn’t make them any better than murderers. Well, unless there’s something that Kougami is not telling of which would not surprise me in the slightest. He always tries to make himself be seen as the misunderstood good guy in order to get what he wants.

“Those agents take down targets they view as threats.” Mr. Masaoka voices out and that’s something I can’t argue with. He’s got a good point, they take down any form of threat before it becomes a danger to them or the ones they must protect.

“Do I look like a threat Pops?” Kougami asks as if he’s somewhat offended or hurt that Mr. Masaoka would even state that Kougami might be some form of threat. Well, he wouldn’t be wrong. Kougami always needs to be watched otherwise he will cause more mayhem than good.

“Now that’s not even a question to debate.” Teppei answers and I have to give him that look that he knows all too well. He gives me a mischievous grin in return and I know that he’s not even sorry about the comment. Sometimes, my dearly beloved can be such a child. At times it feels like I have two children instead of one but I still love him.

“All that I know is that my comrades back then told me that normally those two are always seen with two massive hounds and that day they weren’t.” Kougami declares and for his sake, it’s a good thing that those two agents did not have their hounds with them. Maybe Kougami would have had a different fate. Maybe he would have indeed died on that day instead of receiving just a nasty scar and a brush in with death.

The alarm suddenly goes off, causing me to jolt up to my feet as it snaps me out of my thoughts. I wish it would have remained quiet all day but what can you do. It’s been too quiet all week. We were bound to get some activity sooner or later.

**XXX**

* * *

 

**XXX**

What a complete mess we have on our hands. No… Not a mess, it’s a bloody nightmare. It was so peaceful in Paris…How could it have come to this? How did things escalate so quickly and to such severity?

“How many?” I hear Teppei ask Mr. Masaoka as I continue reading the briefing the Sybil system has provided me on the incident.

“According to the source, it’s a class of thirteen kids and their teacher.” Mr. Masaoka answers with a bitter tone.

I can’t help but imagine if my baby had somehow been caught into such a disaster. What if my child was being held hostage by a terrorist? I wouldn’t be able to bare it. I don’t even want to think about something like that happening to me, to us. We can’t let these kids die or get injured. We can’t lose; losing is just not an option here. We have to save them, all of them no matter what.

“Teenagers in their mid-teens is not what I’d call kids.” Kougami says as he checks his dominator and that just rubbed me the wrong way. How can he even say something like that? It’s obvious that he doesn’t have a child himself because if he did, he would understand. He wouldn’t say something so heartless.

“Doesn’t matter what their age are. They’re still someone’s child.” Mr. Masaoka quickly responds back.

It really doesn’t matter how old a child might be. I don’t care if my son would be in his forties, he will always be my baby boy. I will never abandon my child, not even once he’s long reached adulthood. I’m a mother until the day I die and I know Teppei feels the same.

A stress level went up after a man stormed into the museum with arsenal weapons. He started shooting all over the place but from what we were able to gather from eye witnesses. It would seem that the shooter wasn’t aiming at anyone in specifics and he didn’t hit anyone. According to witness, he was just shooting for show which only sparked a massive panic.

Most were able to escape the museum but according to eye witnesses, it would seem that his target had been those kids from the beginning. He could have had more hostages if he had wanted but he didn’t even try. He was solemnly interested in those kids right from the get go but it’s not like he needed more. He’s got the perfect hostages he could ask for, children. He knows that we won’t gamble with the safety and the well-being of children.

“The unsub has taken over the building for over two hours now. A single gunshot has been heard after the lockdown.” I start briefing my team. “It might be safe to assume that the teacher is probably dead and take into account that we have traumatized children in there with a madman.” I further add.

I can’t help but feel anger growing within me as I keep thinking that someone would dare use children to further their agenda. They know that children are vulnerable. They are innocent and such easy targets to go after. We just have to save them. I don’t want any dead kids on my hands today.

“Priority is the children’s safety and to take down the unsub by all means. We can’t let him hurt these children.” I order before bolting into action.

We split up into two groups. Hinakawa and Ms. Kunizuka follow closely behind me towards the front entrance of the building. Mr. Masaoka takes charge and heads towards the back with Kougami and Teppei in tow.

I hate scenarios like this we’ve found ourselves in. I know the situation but I don’t know how things will go down. Individuals like our current unsub are difficult targets to predict. They can be mentally unstable or they can be highly calculating. In this case, we don’t know the mental state of this criminal in any way.

On normal scenarios, terrorists who end up taking hostages usually have a goal in mind. They want something and they use hostages as leverage in order to get it. They know that law enforcements want to protect the innocent so they gamble. But, with this one, he hasn’t even tried to contact us to negotiate a deal.

I carefully open the front door of the museum and my Enforcers quickly charge in with their dominators ready to fire. I enter the building only to find nothing. Not a child or a sound. If I didn’t know any better, I would have assumed that the museum was simply closed for the day instead of being under sieged.

“We need to split up.” I order in a whisper. “If you spot the unsub, you have my permission to shoot him on the spot.” I add and they acknowledge the order before taking their own separate paths.

I proceed to go forward into the museum’s core as I carefully look around for anything suspicious but so far nothing. The silent hallway I’ve taken is almost unbearable. It’s maddening but it’s better than hearing the cries and screams of innocent children getting tortured. And yet, the silence can also mean something else and that very thought scares me. For the love of what is good in this world, I hope for the latter to be wrong.

A door at the end of the hall catches my eyes. I carefully reach for the door, turning the doorknob slowly as I try to make as little noise as possible. I carefully push the door open and enter with caution.

The emergency lights are the only thing that is illuminating the stairwell. I make my way down the stairs with much caution and my dominator tightly in my hands. I can’t afford to be taken by surprise, there’s too much at stake here.

My footsteps are all I can hear as I keep on climbing down until my feet hit the concrete floor. I continue through the dark basement that seems to be the museum’s personal warehouse for their equipment and un-shown pieces. I continue exploring the dark room when a disturbance catches my attention. It doesn’t sound to be too far away. And yet, it sounds rather muffled as if someone has been gagged. Or maybe the echo of the warehouse is causing some distortion of the sounds or I’m simply imagining things.

“Look who’s join the party!”

The sudden voice catches my attention and I quickly advance towards the sound. With each step I take, the disturbance is getting closer and then two figures entered my field of vision standing on top an elevated platform when I suddenly get a flashback go through my mind.

“Where are the other children?” I ask as I ignore the madman’s previous remark as I step closer. I can't allow him to see any weakness in my eyes or in my voice even if the memories in my head are rather painful. Memories I had worked so hard to forget are just surging back in but I refuse to let them consume me. The memories will be my strength to stop this man. 

I try to see the status of the child, trying to see if he is injured in any way but I can’t see the boy’s face. He’s starring at the ground, clinging onto the railing of the platform as if it can somehow protect him. I wish I could see his eyes, it would reveal so much as to what happened to him.

“Aren’t I good enough for you?” The unsub asks in a rather mocking tone as he crouches down behind the child and the sudden contact makes the boy flinch.

This man makes no sense. Why bother to only gag and bound one child when he has thirteen to work with? What did he do to the others? The fact that I don't hear anything sends chills down my spine and the condition of the child in front of me worries me. Even if I can't see his face, I know this madman has harmed him. He didn't flinch just for the sake of it, this boy is afraid and I can only imagine the pain he must have endured but I will save him. This night is almost over, I just need him to be patient only a bit more.

“You will be only once you tell me where the others are.” I tell him as I point my dominator towards him but I can’t get a lock on. The child is in the way of the dominator’s shot. I can’t shoot him.

“Let’s play a game!” He exclaims instead of answering my question. Roughly grabbing the boy by his raven coloured hair, forcing him up to his feet and I feel my heart drop. That can’t be…

The boy has been gagged and his face is bruised so I can imagine he’s been tormented enough by this madman already but I swear that I’m starring at Mr. Ginoza right now. The boy is a spitting image of Mr. Ginoza in every possible way. The only thing is that he seems shorter and that’s it.

“Enough! You’ve lost! Surrender peacefully!” I order but the man isn’t even listening to a word I’m saying. He’s obviously focused on his own madness then to listen to reason.

“The inspector of Sybil doesn’t want to play.” The unsub tells the boy and pulls even harder onto the child's hair forcing his head back even further.

The boy lets out a few muffled sounds as he gets pulled back even more. His hands starting to turn red from the poor blood circulation from his restraints as blood starts to trickle down his fingers. Memories of Yuki’s death further comes back to haunt me as I recount the horror of that day and there’s nothing I can do. The dominator won’t let me shoot!

This can't be happening! Not again! Please not again!

“I want to play a game.” The unsub repeats again but this time in a much colder tone, almost numb even. His demeanor suddenly changed and those dark eyes staring back at me speak nothing but malice.

His declaration followed by a muffled cry from the boy. It’s only once the madman lifts his other arm up that I see that he’s holding a thin blade stained with fresh blood from stabbing the child. By how the boy as shifted his weight onto one side, it’s safe to assume that the lunatic stabbed him in his right leg but I can't see the extent of the injury from here.

The boy lets out a few more muffled whimpers through the gag as tears roll down his cheeks. I point my dominator towards the target once again but I can’t get a lock on. If I don’t do something, the child is surely to die. If I react right now, the unsub can kill the boy right on the spot but if I do nothing he’ll continue to torture the child.

“Look at this face!” The unsub blurts out ignoring the fact that he just severely harmed a child just moments ago as if it was nothing to him.

He jerks the boy’s head again and for the first time, I meet the boy’s eyes. They are green, the same shade of green as Mr. Ginoza had and I wonder if those frighten eyes I see right now were the same as to what Mr. Masaoka had seen in Mr. Ginoza in his final hours.

“Such a pretty face. Eyes he’ll shut forever all because the inspector didn’t want to play.” The unsub adds coldly before placing the thin blade against the boy’s neck.

“Don’t!” I scream out as I watch the unsub swiftly press the blade against the boy’s pale skin, blood gushing out followed by a loud crack and the unsub falls limp onto the platform. Blood gushing out from his head where he just got shot.

The boy’s muffled sounds as he gasps for air snaps me back to reality as I see him dangling from his wrists against the railing. I shouldn't be shocked but I can't believe this happened. Not again and I know I should run to this boy but I can't move. I'm frozen and all I can see is Yukie.

“Fucking bastard!” Kougami barks back and I see Mr. Masaoka quickly climb up the platform to join the boy. Wasting no time in cutting the restraints from the boy’s wrists and removing the gag from his mouth.

The poor child falls limp onto his back as he gasps for air as Mr. Masaoka tries to stop the bleeding but this time without being injured himself, he can easily ease the bleeding. I wonder as he stares down at the child’s face if he’s thinking about the same thing as I am. Or, is it making Mr. Masaoka relive the awful event of the past?

“We have a problem.” Teppei tells me, snapping me back to reality but he doesn’t have to say it, I know.

“Call for an ambulance. We’ll deal with it.” I order but by the look in his eyes, I know there’s something else and I fear to hear it.

“The other kids. We found them. They’re all dead with their throats slashed.” Teppei informs me but at this point, it doesn’t surprise me considering what just happened. “But that’s not the problem.” He adds and now I’m confused.

“What?” I ask.

“We counted eleven bodies. With the boy we have twelve. We’re missing one and we can’t find the thirteenth child anywhere.” He further informs and I feel my gut twist and churn. This can’t be happening.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Sugo**

Things could not have gone any worse. This is a total disaster in every possible way. Not only did we fail to save those hostages, one of them is missing. I initially thought that maybe the missing child might have went into hiding within the building when the madness went down but I found nothing. I even went to check the security camera in hopes of finding something more and I was able to see the criminal go to the group of students but they were short by one already and with the chaos around I wasn't able to pinpoint our missing student.

I wish I had been the one to find the unsub instead of Akane. She didn’t have to witness such brutality with her own eyes. I know that she’s not fragile and that she’s more than capable of handling herself but still. She didn’t need to see that boy get tortured the way that he did and to make matters worst the dominator failed us once again. If only Akane could have been able to shoot, the boy wouldn't have gotten those injuries but the criminal knew how our guns work. I'm fairly certain he had some knowledge about us and the thing is, he was expecting Sibyl to show up but not SHIELD...

Anyhow, the amount of trauma the child experienced at the hands of that madman can only be over the roof. His stress level must surely be high and that's not even considering if he's at a critical level yet. It's without a doubt that a good amount of therapy will be needed for the boy's wellbeing. One thing that's most certain, he won’t be well any time soon but he’s lucky to be alive. If it hadn’t been for Masaoka and his quick thinking, he surely would have died back there. The boy would have bled out within minutes, if not sooner.

Waiting is always the thing I find the hardest. Especially when we're waiting to know the status of an innocent victim like a child. Waiting for the doctor to come out just tell us that the boy will live or he did not make it, is rather unbearable and is any parent's worst nightmare. However, I'm fairly certain that the boy will live but still, the wait is rather maddening.

I continue looking through the museum’s log book. Everyone who assist the tour must sign their name into the log book when they enter. They must also sign their name again before they can leave in order to confirm that they are no longer within the building. It’s a safety method many businesses uses now a days in case there is ever an emergency. That way, the employees have a list to use in order to identify people in case any ever go missing during an emergency. But, it's mainly used as a way to make sure no one gets left behind.

From the log book, I was able to locate our victims. All thirteen students and their teacher all signed their names when they entered the museum at one in the afternoon sharp. But, none of them have signed to exit the building which means that all thirteen students should have been located and yet one is missing. From the number of bodies and the names listed, I can tell that the missing student is a girl. Which one, I’m not exactly sure. We’ll be able to better determine once DNA results come back from the lab and hopefully we’ll have better answers as to whom is missing.

At this point I just can’t help but wonder what the hell that madman did to that girl? Did he manage to find her within the chaos or is she free somewhere? Probably scared out of her wits. As of right now, the only one who knows the answer to that question is the boy. No thanks to Kougami and his stupidity. But then again, the boy would surely have died if Kougami had not shot the unsub. But... He didn’t need to kill the man in order to subdue him though.

The unsub failed to slit the boy’s throat completely. It’s rather ironic how the injury mirrors that of Inspector Ginoza. Same side, same length. Just not the same fate. Although Masaoka has not voiced out his opinion over the child's appearance, I'm certain his brain is working on overdrive. The resemblance is so great that is kind of creepy to be honest.

The sound of the door opening grabs my attention as I look up to see the doctor coming towards us as he takes off his surgical cap. Akane has already risen to her feet, obviously anxious to hear the news.

“The surgery was a success. The boy should make a full recovery.” The doctor tells Akane much to all of our relief.

“Good!” Akane voices out in relief. Sometimes I think my wife will leave me a single man one of those days if things continue at this rate. If things continue like this, she’s going to die from a heart attack and give me one in return.

“We only have one issue.” The doctor says catching our curiosity.

“What issue?” I ask before Akane could as I rise up to my feet, closing the file as I walk up to my wife to stand by her side.

“That boy is not a citizen of Sibyl. None of those kids are. We have no way to identify them.” The doctor informs. “I personally would induce the boy into a temporary coma to give him a chance to heal both physically and mentally. The trauma could make his condition worst.” The doctor adds.

I don’t get what the issue is. If he believes inducing the child into a coma would allow him to heal better then he should do it. It’s for the child’s wellbeing after all and he's a doctor so he should have that authority to make that call. Whether the child is a citizen of Sibyl or not.

“Why not?” Akane asks.

“He’s not a citizen of Sibyl. He’s a citizen of SHIELD.” The doctor replies back and that’s just bull. He doesn’t want to say it but the only reason why he won’t do it is because he doesn’t want to deal with SHIELD himself. But, this is becoming one hell of a mess by every passing minute that goes by.

The doctor walks away and I can sense that Akane wants to see the boy so without a word I open the large doors and enter. I hear Akane’s footsteps from behind and it doesn’t take long until she’s right beside me as I look at each room we pass until we found the child. Just lying in the hospital bed motionless, with tubes up his nose for oxygen and hooked on an IV for serum and blood. It’s always hard to look at a child in this kind of state. Poor thing. I would give anything to save all the children who fall victim to damn lunatics.

“He’s our only hope in identifying the missing girl.” I tell Akane. I wish I could have avoided interrogating the boy. I’d hate to make him relive the horror but what choice do we have?

“He’s the spitting image of Mr. Ginoza.” Akane mutters sadly and it is frightening when you look at the similarities. You’d think that someone cloned him or something but that’s completely ridiculous. Not like it be even possible anyway and besides, it would be rather immoral to even attempt it. Not like Ginoza would ever provide his DNA to do such a thing anyway.

“He’s not Ginoza. He’s just an innocent boy who got involved with a madman and now we have him on our hands. Ginoza’s gone Akane.” I tell her. I hate being the bad guy here but it won’t help anyone if they linger on the thought of Ginoza. We couldn’t do anything for Ginoza but we can do something for this boy. We need to think of that child in this very moment and not someone who has been dead for the last sixteen years.

To be honest, I never met Ginoza in person. I only joined the MWPSB after he died but I've seen enough pictures of the guy to know how he looked like. From what I’ve gotten from people here and there, he was often a misunderstood individual. He had good intentions and he wanted to protect people but he didn’t have a way with others unfortunately. But, apparently he had a good heart. He cared too much and it slowly destroyed him inside.

“I have to stay by his side.” Akane states and of course she’d say that but no. She won’t watch over this child even when taking into consideration of what happened. That boy is not her responsibility as much as she feels he is. This boy is not her child.

“Shusei needs you. You can do something for our son who’s waiting for us at home. But, you can’t do anything for this child at this time.” I tell her and yes, I understand it’s sad to leave the boy alone. It’s also hard when we know how he’ll react once he wakes up but we can’t be there for this boy no matter how much we want to be there. We have our own child that is already being affected by our absence at home as it is. Our son should be our first priority above all else.

If there is anything, the medical staff will be able to handle it. They will be able to provide the boy with the best care they can possibly provide. And besides, it’s not like he’ll be completely alone. As strange as it may seem, Kougami has volunteered to keep guard for the night. Not that it’s much of a relief to hear but Masaoka has also stated he will be keeping watch. With Masaoka around, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about and we can sleep soundly tonight.

**XXX**

* * *

 

**Chapter 2.5**

**Kougami**

Should it be much of a surprise to everyone that the fucking lunatic murdered those kids? It sure did not caught me by surprise nor was I shocked when I saw the pile of dead kids. It’s the curiosity as to how he did it that keeps on circulating through my mind. I investigated the dead bodies of those kids and none of them had any injuries. There were no signs of restraint markings around their wrists. When those kids’ throats were slit, they weren’t bound. You could almost believe that they willingly allowed themselves to be killed but that goes against human nature. No matter what, it is basic human instinct to want to live so it’s impossible that they would have allowed themselves to be killed so easily.

The answer to all of our questions all lies with this kid. Unlike all the others, this one is bruised and beaten but why. Why this one out of all the others? No matter how I look at it, it just doesn't make any common sense but psychopaths don't always conform to common logic. They have their own logic that makes perfect sense to them.

I recall what that madman said before he slit the boy’s throat. Such a pretty face, eyes he’ll shut forever. I have no doubt in my mind that he chose this boy for a particular reason just like he chose this group in specific but it's figuring the reason why. Now that's the challenge I have to tackle at the moment.

Sugo isn’t the only one who can do research but unlike him, I can do it better. During the time of the museum visit, right before the assault commenced. There were a total of five groups of students there. Some of the other groups had children from some heavy pockets and yet he chose a random group of students instead. Or... Maybe they’re not so random after all. As much of a madman that lunatic was, he wasn’t that crazy. He knew what he was doing but we’re missing the bigger picture here. We often think too grand about things but maybe it's all just black and white. The answer has to be simple.

Just because that man is dead it doesn't mean that it’s all over. Oh no, it’s only just begun and we better be ready. After all, a bunch of SHIELD children just got massacred and we have one in our grasp. Only a fool would think that SHIELD is going to sit back quietly and wait while we play our game. We have to be the ones to do the first move. We have to stay one step ahead of SHIELD no matter what or they'll eat us alive and leave nothing behind.

The sound of the monitors is all that fills the room as I stare down at the motionless body. Starring at a face that I know and yet I don’t know this child. I see Gino so much in this child but I know deep down that it’s not him. I know it’s not him. Even though his face is so similar, it’s still different and unique. Gino always had a pretty face, that’s true but it was never this delicate. Even past the bruises, I can see the delicate shape of his cheekbones and the strong and yet soft jawbone. He’s even more beautiful than Gino was at that age if that’s even possible.

They say that the boy will live, that he should make a full recovery. Of course he’ll make a full recovery. In this day and age it’s not like an injury like this would actually be life threatening. A hundred years ago maybe such an injury would have been fatal but with the technology we have now. This is like a minor flesh wound. I would have called neglect and carelessness if the doctor had told us that the boy was not going to make it.

I slowly lift the thin sheet that’s covering his right leg in hopes to see the extent of the damage but there’s nothing to see. It’d be a bother to try to lower the hospital trousers down anyway so why bother. Anyhow, they don’t mention much about the leg injury, only the neck. But, from what I was able to learn from the nurses is that the leg injury was quite grand compared to the other injury. A long gash starting from behind the knee going all the way up to his thigh. It was only from pure luck that the lunatic missed the artery but the boy sure won’t be walking any time soon on that leg.

I lower the sheet back to its original location, making sure it completely covers the boy's body to make sure he does not get cold as my gaze shift back to the boy’s face. He makes me feel strange. It’s Gino I see but there’s something more, something that just isn’t right. He’s a kid, I know he’s innocent but he’s toxic. He’s lying in that bed so helpless and if I didn’t control myself I’d do so many unmentionable things to him.

I extend my hand to gently stroke the boy’s warm cheek before jolting it away as I slowly step back without removing my gaze from him. I keep on starring for a few more seconds before leaving the room as I retreat back into the observation room. Hiding behind the security glass as if it’s somehow a shield, preventing me from making a mistake that I know I will regret as I stare down at the boy.

That kid is pure toxic. Perhaps this is the reason why that madman chose that one to torture. He chose him as his last victim meaning that this one was the lunatic’s favourite. Perhaps even his real target right from the beginning but I wonder what he did to this child. I can't help but have a bad feeling that something happened to this child that we don't know and I hope that I'm wrong about this. But would it be surprising if it had occurred?

It’s crazy how I can’t seem to be able to take my eyes off of him. It’s not normal and perhaps I should take my distance but I can’t look away. My eyes are glued onto this child when suddenly the motionless child suddenly sits up straight in a panic causing me to back away in a jolt stumbling against a chair.

The child is frantic as he violently grasps for air in a panic as he looks around him in distress before reaching for the tubes in his nose. Pulling them in a violent frenzy before ripping out the IV from his arm and the monitors suddenly goes flat. It doesn’t take long for the nurses to rush into the room, wasting no time in trying to calm the child who is clearly having an episode. No matter what they do, the boy doesn’t hear anything; nothing seems to be reaching him as he desperately tries to keep the nurses away.

I know I should do something, I should go in there and try to subdue the child but I can’t. I’m frozen as I watch on as the nurses struggles to calm down this child with little success. It’s only when Pops arrived in a rush that things start going better. He wastes no time in wrapping his warms around the boy allowing a nurse to inject a calming agent into the child’s arm. Once the substance was injected, it only took a few minutes until the boy started to calm down and fell into a deep slumber.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Masaoka**

The child should have been induced into a coma for his own well-being. It doesn’t matter if he’s a citizen of SHIELD or Sibyl. His wellbeing should be the priority to the medical staff no matter what. That episode he just had caused more problems than good for both sides. Ripping the IVs from his arm caused the veins affected to rupture which makes it harder to hook the IVs back on him.

But… The child can’t be blamed for that sudden outburst. I probably would have reacted the exact same way if I were in his shoes. Nothing is his fault, he's innocent within all of this. The fault lies with us, we weren't able to stop the chaos from occurring in the first place.

One thing everyone should be thankful for is that he did not tear his sutures in that episode he had. Things could have been much worse for that child and the medical staff. I don’t care about how much work this incident might have caused the hospital staff though; it’s the boy’s wellbeing that concerns me the most. By all means, this incident should have thought the staff a lesson tonight. That this boy must not be left alone for a minute. He needs someone to be here right next to him when he wakes up.

In order to prevent another episode, the child needs to feel safe. He needs someone there to help calm his panicked mind. He can’t feel safe if he’s all alone to cope with everything that just happened within the last few hours. And, that’s not even knowing what else he might have been dealing with before this incident occurred. He could be from an abusive home or a completely sheltered one for all we know.

Personally, I don’t think he’s from an abusive household though. It’s true that it is impossible to tell if he had any signs of abuse on his body prior to the incident but I don’t believe his parents would be abusive. To be honest, I don't believe that the boy has ever been stroke in his whole life before of which makes this incident even worst. Although, there are many different kinds of abuse and some are harder to detect from first glance but again I don't think he's a victim of any domestic abuse what so ever. Either way, the truth will quickly come out once he’ll be awake but I'm certain nothing will be discovered.

The boy’s clothes if you ignore the blood says a lot about the parents in particular. The piece of clothing are relatively new and made of quality fabric. Not to mention that the brand is top notch which means that the parents care about their child’s appearance. At first glance, the clothes show that the parents are responsible and want nothing but the best for their child. But, it can also mean that they give everything to the child in compensation of not being there. Whether it’s truly the case, only time will tell.

Watching over this child would be a lot to expect from the others. None have the time to step forward to look after a child that is not even theirs. They all have their own lives to live and have children of their own to care for. It would be highly illogical to expect for them to put their own children aside for some unknown child.

I don't have that problem. Unlike the others, I don’t have a spouse or a child who needs me at night. I don’t have anything at this point and it doesn’t matter how many times the little Missy tries to say otherwise. It doesn’t matter how much she tries to get me involved with her little family. I’m a man who’s lost it all. I do admit that the little Missy's family makes life a bit more bearable and her son is quite nice but he’s not mine. I lost my son a long time ago and no child will ever be able to fill the void he left behind.

“The poor thing.” Shion voices out, snapping me out of my thoughts. “You wanted to see me Masaoka before I leave for the day?” She asks and yes I did and still do. The timing couldn't have been any better.

“I need a favour.” I tell her.

“Anything for you Masaoka.” She replies back without any hesitation in her tone. although, I know she’d like to be elsewhere right now but I need her help and it’s not something that can be done tomorrow. It has to be tonight while things are still quiet and fresh. I won’t get another chance at this if we wait.

“I need you to run a DNA test on this child for me.” I say as I watch the boy sleeping with uneasiness. I find his breathing to be too shallow with a slight rattle and I don’t like it. It might just be me over worrying and it’s probably just the result from the episode he had but I don’t like it.

“And compare it to who?” She asks already knowing the answer but it’s as if by asking she’s hoping the answer will be different.

“Mine.” I answer back as I watch the boy’s chest move with little jolts to match that breathing that I can’t ignore for the last hour. It can’t possibly be normal.

“Oh Masaoka… He’s not Ginoza.” Shion voices out in sympathy, not exactly sure how to react or what to say. I know I sound crazy, she might even think that I’m losing my mind but I know that child is not my son. He’s much too young for that but the resemblance is much too great to just be a coincidence.

“He’s not my son, I know that.” I reply back. Only a fool would think otherwise. I know my son died sixteen years ago, that’s not something I’d try to argue with. I accept it, I may not like it but I’ve come to accept it. “There’s something else I want to know.” I add.

Out of all the children that could have been chosen to keep last, why this one? They were a group of SHIELD students; he knew that Sibyl would be in the unknown of these children. He could have used just about any of those kids and yet he settled for that one in particular. Why? The fact that he looks almost identical to my son can’t be just a coincidence.

“I’ll do it but only because it’s you Masaoka.” She gives in as she gently closes the door and turns the blinds so no one can peak inside.

Can’t say that any of this is legal. What I’m doing is breaking several laws and if SHIELD were ever to find out all hell would break loose but I need to do this. If I wait until we have agents of SHIELD in our face to demand a DNA test on this child they will bluntly refuse. I know they will. They’ll quickly take the boy away and I won’t ever get another chance to find out the truth.

Shion quickly gets to work as she heads to the supply counter of the room and takes out a cotton swab from the drawer and then takes out a tube and needle from another drawer. She looks over her shoulder towards the door when we hear voices only for them to fade away.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” She asks nervously.

“Yes. I’m sure.” I answer.

Without another word, she carefully opens the boy’s mouth and swiftly scraps the inside of his cheek with a cotton swab. Once that’s done, she gathers some blood in the tube. Once it’s full, she swiftly hides it inside the pocket of her lab jacket before turning her attention towards me and repeats the same process. Once the samples are all taken, Shion discreetly puts them safely away in her other pocket before opening the blinds and leaves the room without a word.

It surely would be a real scandal if words would go out that a DNA check had been done on a child of SHIELD without their authorization beforehand. They most certainly would not stand for it but at this point I don’t care. I have a gut feeling and I have to follow through until the bitter end. I just need to know. No matter the results, I just need to know the truth or I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. But, deep down I know the truth. That boy, he just has to be…

The sounds of the monitors consume the room as it blends with the sound of the clock on the wall. At my age, the passing of time usually goes by like a flash but right now it feels like ages have passed since Shion left the room. It feels like the hands on the clock are going in slow motion. As if something is trying to hold the hands from moving.

Having to wait for something always seems to make time go by so slow. I just want to see this child awake at least so he can start healing. I need to see the extent of the boy’s damage and help him heal and feel safe. More importantly, I want to meet him. Not as a victim or as a witness to the case. I want to meet this boy for who he is.

I rise up to my feet and start pacing around the room as I watch the nurses walk up and down the hall. They all seem very busy and you could almost believe it too if you knew nothing about how hospitals work. Their rush hour ended two hours ago and most patients have fallen asleep at this hour so the staff basically have nothing to do on this floor other than wait for something to happen.

With the technology that we have now, there are not that many sick people around now a days. There aren’t that many diseases that can’t be cured either. Cancer, HIV, heart disease, only to name a few. can all be eliminated like the common flu. It’s no longer a frightening thing to be told that you have cancer. It can be cured just as easily as taking a prescription as you would for an infection. With the progression of technology, it almost makes hospitals a thing of the past but they manage to carry on. Unlike many things that have crumbled with the years, hospitals will always exist. Maybe not seen as highly as before but still somewhat of a necessity to the public.

A light knock snaps me out of my thoughts only to see that it’s Shion standing in the doorway. She has a thick yellow envelop between her fingers and holds it out for me to take.

“What’s the verdict?” I ask as I take the envelop and Shion closes the door before turning her attention towards the blinds again. Closing them without delay.

“You’re not the father.” She replies back and that at least I knew. If I had been the father I would have some serious questions. The only way that would have been possible was if someone had cloned by boy and that alone is illegal. Even SHIELD condones it. “But he does share your DNA. With his appearance it didn’t surprise me to find a large sum of it that match but according to this, he’s your grandson. There's no doubt about it, he's Ginoza's son. His own flesh and blood.” She adds with much joy in her tone.

It brings me joy for discover this bit of information. I have a grandson and nothing could have made me happier. It didn’t come as a surprise since I had my doubts ever since I had laid eyes on him when I was trying to stop his bleeding. His eyes were filled with panic but he never took his eyes off me the whole time until medics took over. He was gasping for air but I could have sworn back then that he was trying to tell me something but nothing would come out. Just blood.

This recent news also raises so many questions now. It raises the question as to whom could have wanted my son dead even more. Is the mother of my grandchild a factor in my son’s death? With whom did my child hang out with once he was away from the job? What did he do? Did he know he was a target for death? The many questions concerning my son's fate pains me just to think about it.

It’s true when it comes to my son I have to admit there’s a lot I don’t know. It’s only now that I realize exactly to what point I didn’t know him at all but I wasn’t the only one. Kou never mentioned a single thing about Nobuchika hanging out with other people. Actually he kept saying that Nobuchika should go out more and live a little. It all seems that he lived a second life that no one was aware about.

“My guesses this child must have been born after Ginoza’s death.” Shion states. It does make sense to assume that. However, this boy was among senior students which means he is sixteen and should be turning seventeen sometime this year. I have no doubt that Nobuchika knew he was going to be a father. The only thing I can't say is if he got the chance to meet his son or he died before the child was born.

When Nobuchika had been abducted, we searched his apartment for clues. We saw no signs that he was living with someone. There were no pictures of this mystery woman or anything to hint that she even existed. There wasn't any signs that he was even expecting a child. Perhaps I should go back through my son’s processions, maybe I overlooked something.

The more I discover about all of this, the more it saddens me. Another child having to grow up without a father. I so wanted a better life for my boy. It sure did not turn out that way. In the end, I couldn’t even protect my own flesh and blood. In the end of it all, I couldn’t even save my boy. I failed as a father in every possible way.

“I wonder who’s the mother.” Shion voices out, mirroring my own thoughts. I’d like to know who the mother is as well and I strongly believe that she holds all the answers that I seek. She must know who wanted to cause my son harm.

This mystery woman must have known about me as well. I’m fairly certain that Nobuchika must have told her about his old man to some extent anyway. Even though I was a latent criminal, after Nobuchika died normally the spouse of the deceased would come forward. It’s a psychological thing that all humans do. They always seek out relatives of their deceased loved one and yet she didn’t. Instead, she went into hiding and she succeeded too until this incident happened. This woman won’t have any choice but to show her face now. After all, I seriously doubt it that she’ll allow her son to be surrounded with strangers considering the ones who murdered her lover is probably still lurking around. She'll want to protect her child

“We’ll find out soon enough.” I tell Shion and we better start getting ready on our end. “We might be on the path to finding my son’s murderer.” I add.

With this new discovery I can’t help but have a gut feeling that I discovered something that I shouldn’t have. I know this is playing with fire but I will get down to the bottom of all this. I have a hunch that the boy’s mother knows who murdered my son. You just don’t go into hiding for no reason. In her case, she hid herself to protect the only living part of my son that was left and they found him. The horror for this child might have only just begun…

**XXX**

* * *

 

**Chapter 3.5**

**Rogers**

Today at fifteen hundred hours a terrorist came running into a museum filled with people. He came in raining bullets upon the people but injured none in his rampage. According to sources, his goal was never to mass murder the large crowd. It seem his only goal was to take a group of students hostage which he later killed before being killed himself by Sibyl.

All of this madness occurred in Sibyl’s territory in Paris. They’ve released the news to the public about the incident but kept out quite a lot. They advised that the terrorist was dead but they haven’t released the status of the hostages yet. That was a mistake on their part whether they realize it yet or not. That blunder of theirs will cost them.

Anyhow, with the incident having occurred in Sibyl’s territory, we couldn’t interfere and take over the situation. We had to sit back and wait for them to slip up. But, one thing’s for certain, we can’t allow Sibyl to continue. We need to start pushing them back and we need to push back hard. We can’t allow a system that is run by brains that once belong to criminals to govern the people. They are no better than Hydra in every possible way. Sibyl needs to be eliminated at all cost for the better of the people.

All of those children, all of those poor innocent children lost. All of them dead way before their time. All of them but two lost their lives in this tragedy. One who has returned to the safety of Shield all thanks to her boyfriend and the other who is currently in Sibyl’s clutches.

Sibyl is playing with fire for having one of ours in their possession and dare remain quiet about it. It’s absolutely unacceptable. Especially when this child is severely injured due to their own incompetence. They should have notified SHIELD immediately that they had a child that survived the tragedy. It would have looked better than to remain silent about the ordeal and that way it would have shown us some faith.

You just don’t leave a parent hanging like that. I can’t help but feel sympathy and frustration thinking about all of those parents who are anxiously waiting for their children to come home. Not knowing the status of their child is maddening. If only they knew that their biggest fear has come true. That they must bury their child. That is any parent’s worst nightmare.

“We will be landing in twenty hundred hours.” I advise the team catching their attention in the process. “We will be returning to the base once we’ve landed.” I further instruct.

“What about Sibyl?” Cobra numbly asks.

As much as I have a problem with that organization, I can’t allow my own personal feelings to cloud my judgments. Sibyl can wait but we can’t just start acting without forming a strategy. If we storm in, we won’t be any better than Sibyl. We must carefully plan everything out if we are to exile that system once and for all.

“The children, unfortunately are dead. Nothing worse than that could possibly happen to them at this point. The only one that needs to be retrieved is currently being cared for in the hospital.” I state. “Robb is strong; we all know he’ll be fine. And, with those injuries, Sibyl can’t take him away from the hospital. He’s not going anywhere in his state.” I add.

From the report I received from Natasha, it doesn’t sound like Robb will be able to walk on his own anytime soon. The injury to his leg is quite severe but it should heal well in time. The injury that worries me the most is his neck. Such an injury isn’t light but according to Natasha the physical injuries are not what we should be worrying about. It’s his mental state that is the problem and something else she would rather not say via tele-communicator so knowing Natasha it can't be anything good.

“What about Sibyl?” Cobra asks again rather impatiently.

“It’s quite simple about Sibyl. We will start by kicking them out of Paris and then the rest of Europe.” I declare to Cobra as well as the rest of the team and add. “First, we need to get back to base.”

At this very moment, we need to be wise with our actions. We need to think about each action carefully before administering them. I personally don’t think they’d dare harm Robb, I don’t think Sibyl is corrupted at that point but they might if they feel cornered. But, we have to assume that they might hold him as a hostage against us as a leverage. He is after all a child of SHIELD and they can use his safety against us towards the public. We have to keep in mind that this might be a possibility and we must avoid such a scenario.

“We need to get Robb and the children back.” Cobra shoots back.

I agree, we do need to get them back. All of them need to be brought back home so they can have a funeral and be buried. However, the dead can wait but right now my biggest concern is to get Robb back. It pains me to say that the deceased children can wait but it's not like they'll be going anywhere. They’re dead, there’s nothing that Sibyl can do with them other than putting them into a morgue. As for Robb it’s different. They can forcefully enter his brain to gain information. They can brainwash him to the turn the child against us or worse use him as a ward. We all know that wards are never treated kindly. With every lost the enemy receives the ward usually gets the repercussion for those failures.

“And we will. Unfortunately we can’t help the children at this time. They can’t get very far from the morgue.” I say and that sounds so wrong in my head. So many body bags… But it’s not the amount that bothers me. It’s the fact that they are children. So many lives that ended too soon.

“And what about Robb? Are we just going to leave him behind and wait until Sibyl decides to kill him for sports?” Cobra inquires back which is quite an exaggeration since Sibyl can’t afford to harm the boy. At least not yet.

“I wouldn’t leave him alone. I already sent Natasha to infiltrate the hospital and Tony is working on something himself.” I advise.

The moment the news of the incident reached my ears, I immediately sent Natasha in to investigate the situation. She wasted no time to infiltrate behind enemy lines when they were taking Robb away to a hospital. There was simply no way that I would allow Sibyl to do what they wished with one of ours. If anything were to happen, Natasha knows what to do and she'll do it well.

I don’t believe that violence is the only way to solve issues in political conflicts. If it can be avoided then good but sometimes we don’t have a choice. Some things can only be changed if we fight back. For the next generation, I will do everything in my power to protect this world. To make it a place worth living in.

The frustration my team are experiencing is understandable. Nothing is more infuriating when children ends up dying and we couldn’t do a single thing to prevent it. As for Sibyl, it wouldn’t have been so bad if they would have acted accordingly. We all know you can’t always save them all no matter how hard you try. No matter how hard I tried I wasn’t able to save Bucky but at least he didn’t die like I had thought. He’s still here unlike those kids. Anyway, it’s the fact that Sibyl is trying to hide the truth from the public which is unacceptable.

All Sibyl had to do was to tell the public of the outcome and contact SHIELD. But they did none of that. Yes they advised that the terrorist had been taken down but that was it. They didn’t even bother to try to contact the parents to let them know that their child is dead. I feel like Sibyl is playing a game but they’ll soon enough find out what happens when you play with SHIELD.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Akane**

I wonder how that child is doing this morning; I hope he’s doing well…

Mr. Masaoka informed me that the child had an episode late last night. Apparently the episode was so bad that he had to be tranquilized in order to calm him down. The poor thing… I need to help that boy, I have to do something. I’m not exactly sure what I can possibly do that would help but I have to try. I can only imagine the trauma he’s dealing with on his own.

Before Mr. Masaoka hung up, he did inform me that the boy kept on waking up throughout the night but that he didn’t fall into another episode. When he called, he informed me that the boy had fallen asleep only a few minutes prior but that he was fairly certain that the boy would wake up again soon enough.

The little bit of information that Mr. Masaoka provided says a lot about the boy’s state of mind. He had an episode after waking up from the anesthesia. His brain was in a lazy state and thus there was nothing to prevent the episode from happening. Now that his mind is free from the anesthesia’s effect, he’s able to stop himself from having an episode by sheer force but the trauma is still there. I’m fairly certain that’s what is keeping him awake and the pain must not help either. The memories of the events must be surging through his dreams forcing him to wake up each time.

I asked Mr. Masaoka if he had been able to learn anything from the boy but he wasn’t able to get a single thing out of him. All he would tell me was that the boy just doesn’t respond to any questions he’s asked. Apparently all he does is stare around the room in silence, not muttering a word to anyone. But, to be honest I don't think Mr. Masaoka is even trying either but he's good with children. I'm sure he knows what he's doing and we'll get some answers soon.

Kougami also tempted his luck in getting something out of him but failed as well. The boy doesn’t shrug, nod or shake his head in any way as a form of communication. He just numbly stares back at you until you leave him alone. Kougami believes that the boy probably doesn’t understand a word that is being spoken to him. Honestly, I don’t think Kougami is right. It does make sense to think that but I'm starting to think that there might be something wrong with his vocal cords. The injury might be greater than what we may have thought.

“Shusei! You have to leave in five minutes for school!” I say loudly as I gather my things for work in all haste.

“I know!” Shusei replies back with that same irritated tone he’s had for some time now.

“I placed thirty dollars in the cupboard for dinner. I’m afraid we won’t be home early sweetie.” I tell him and add, “Order whatever you want for dinner.”

I give my baby a soft smile but he doesn’t return one back. Instead he has that frown on his face. No matter what I do, I just can’t seem to win with him. Everything I do just doesn’t seem to be good enough for him anymore and that pains me so much. I know being a mother isn’t supposed to be easy but why must it be so painful?

“I have a thing called a game tonight.” He tells me with that same tone. “You forgot, not like that’s anything new.” He adds and that stings.

“Hey! Save the attitude.” Teppei suddenly jumps in to my defense catching Shusei a bit off-guard. “You better give your mother an apology and now!” Teppei adds.

“Fuck that.” Shusei dares to shoot back.

Where does he get that attitude from? Where did he get this bad behavior from? We didn’t teach him that. We’ve always showed him love, kindness and respect and yet he doesn’t do anything that we’ve thought him. When he acts like this towards us, I feel like someone else is hiding under his skin. That somehow he’s not my son and yet I know deep down that this is my baby boy.

“Shusei apologize to your mother right now!” Teppei tells our son with a severe tone. “We both work very hard in order to give you a better life. To make sure that you can have everything that you need and that is no way to treat your mother who loves you more than anything in the world.” He adds and that warms my heart to know that I have him by my side through thick and thin. I can always count on my beloved to have my back no matter what. We make a great team and yet we’re losing our son by the day.

“Right. You work so hard.” Shusei barks back in his usual sarcastic tone that he has long since adopted. “Loras’ parents work harder than both of you combined and yet they miss nothing so screw you.” He sharply adds before storming out with his bag over his shoulder and that just breaks my heart.

I don’t do on purpose to forget certain things. I just have a lot on my plate and at times, things just seem to get out of hands. There’s just so much going on right now. It's all things that are beyond my control.

Shusei makes me feel like I’m not trying hard enough. Sometimes my baby boy makes me feel like I’m an unfit mother. He never waste the chance to compare me or Teppei to Loras’ parents. How they’re just so great, ever so flawless with everything they do. I seriously doubt it that they’re that perfect, not that I can argue about it though. I’ve only seen Loras’ mother from a distance and I’ve yet to see his father. All I know about Loras’ mother is that she’s quite beautiful with her long brown curly hair and olive skin. I can't deny that she does seem to be involved in everything when it comes to school activities...

My son is the biggest joy in my life. I love him so much but he can hurt me just as much with his actions and what he says at times. He’s important to me but my job is important too. I can’t always be there when he wants me to be. He needs to understand that.

“I’ll talk to him, Akane.” Teppei tells me.

I appreciate everything that he does for me and I appreciate that he always wants to fix everything. But, he can’t fix this issue this time. I have to do this because if Teppei talks to Shusei on my behalf, it won’t fix the problem. Instead it will only make matters worst and it’s quite clear to see that our son resents both of us but he resents me more.

Ever since Shusei started high school, I started to lose him. He changed so much and his attitude turned for the worst after we came to Paris. I’m not sure if it’s because of the people he started to hang out with but all I know is that before we came here he understood why we could not always be there. He was respectful, kind, sweet and he was becoming such a darling young man but the moment we came here, everything started going downhill.

“No, I’ll talk to him.” I tell my husband. “He’s acting out because he wants to get back at me. Which is why it’s best if I’m the one who talks to him.” I add.

“Alright then.” He acknowledges and without another word, we pick up our things and out we go.

Today, there’s so much I have to do. First, I want to see that boy and hopefully we'll be able to have a nice conversation with him. I’d like, even if only a little to be able to gather some information from him. We still haven’t been able to locate the missing girl and hopefully that child might have some information on what could have happened to her.

There’s also the need to get a conference with SHIELD. We’ve already delayed enough as it is. I seriously doubt it that they will just sit back and wait patiently for us to contact them. We have to be the ones to reach out to them first. There’s without a doubt that they must already be aware of the incident. It wouldn’t surprise me if they had gone to the crime scene to do their own investigation. They’re probably not too pleased with the outcome but we need more time.

**XXX**

* * *

 

**XXX**

The drive to the hospital was silent and it felt longer than what it was. We didn’t attempt to exchange opinions about the whole thing, although it was quite apparent that we were both lost in our own thoughts. I can’t say if my husband had the same thoughts as I did about our family or if it was all about duty or both. There are so many things we need to do with so little time.

As we got closer to the hospital, I forced all of my thoughts in the back of my mind. It’s no longer the time to think about anything else but the job and it doesn’t take long for my mind to kick back into gear. I need to be able to push my team forward and I must remain one step ahead above all else. I can’t afford to fall back and failure is not an option.

Teppei brings the car to a stop and kills the engine and I exit the car making my way towards the hospital. I enter the building and make my way through the hall as my husband catches up to me without a word.

I don’t know why I’m suddenly feeling anxious as we make our way down the hall. I’ve been in situations like this many times before and I’ve been in situations way worst than this and yet I can’t shake this uneasiness out of my mind. I’m sure it’s probably just because I know SHIELD is probably lurking around and I shouldn’t worry about it but I have a bad feeling. I know they’re already watching and as I scan each face we pass, I can’t help but wonder if one of them might be an agent of SHIELD.

“Someone needs to interrogate that kid.” Kougami voices out as we approach the room, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I know that we need to interrogate that child, it’s not like Kougami needs to remind me. I know what I have to do and jumping straight into interrogations is out of the question at this time. If we get caught in trying to interrogate the child by SHIELD, we’ll be in trouble. We have to be wise, we have to interrogate the child in a way that he’s the one who talks to us freely.

It’s not just SHIELD that causes some issues. By the things that Mr. Masaoka told me over the phone earlier. The child is too unstable at this time and an interrogation might only make his condition worst. We still don’t know the exact state of his mind yet and that could be dangerous if we act recklessly. All we know is that he had an episode but we don’t know what will happen if we try to interrogate him. It could be enough to push him into having another one and I don't want to do that to a child. He's been through enough as it is.

“Not now Kougami.” I tell him before entering the hospital room.

If there’s one thing I don’t need, it’s Kougami trying to tell me what to do. He might have been an inspector a long time ago but he isn’t one anymore. I might have been naïve enough to listen to him back then but not anymore. I’ve grown and I sure don’t need his opinion in this kind of situation. I know what needs to be done and shoving a bunch of questions in a child’s face that is related to an incident that traumatized him isn’t going to work.

I carefully study the boy’s expression as I take a step inside the room. His facial expression is rather numb as his gaze is fixed onto the window. I know he’s noticed my presence but he doesn’t seem to care or simply does not want to bother to acknowledge my presence at all. It could also be the trauma that’s making it seem that way, that's always a possibility. He is after all a damaged child at the moment but I believe with the right care, he'll be okay.

The boy has a youthful appearance that makes him seem younger than what he actually is. From the little I know about the class, he’s at least sixteen so a year older than my son. I can’t help but wonder if they might know each other. Chances are they might considering the fact that there’s only one high school in the city of Paris. I wonder if this boy has fallen into the same stage as Shusei towards his parents…

I slowly approach, cautiously walking towards the side of the bed. Careful not to startle the child as I sit down on the chair and I try to study his blank expression. I wish I could hear the thoughts that are currently going through his head right now. I want to help this child. I don't want to see any child suffer.

“I’m Akane Sugo.” I introduce myself softly before asking, “Do you remember me?”

His eyes slowly shift away from the window and switches his attention towards me. I can’t help but get a strange feeling go through me when our eyes made contact. It’s almost frightening how identical that boy’s eyes are compared to Mr. Ginoza. It feels like I am looking at him and somehow it feels as if Mr. Ginoza is back with us but I know it’s only wishful thinking.

“What’s your name?” I ask when I don’t receive a response but he doesn’t answer my second question either.

The only reaction I received from this child is a blank gaze from those green eyes before returning his gaze back to the window. As if I had never taken his attention at all, like I had never spoken to him. He’s just so shut down and that worries me. No matter what anyone might say, this is not normal.

“Good morning little missy.” Mr. Masaoka tells me as he enters the room followed by my husband and Kougami. “We need to talk.” He adds before walking out.

I gaze back at the child who is clearly just ignoring us at this point before taking my leave to join Mr. Masaoka out into the hall. At this hour, I wonder what he needs to talk to me about but it’s good timing since I also need to speak with him.

“The child is not talking and I’m worried he might have greater damages to his vocal cords than we may think.” I tell Mr. Masaoka but he doesn’t seem to be bothered by this in the slightest. Actually, if I didn’t know any better I’d say that he’s in a wonderful mood. He’s got this look in his eyes that I haven’t seen in a long time.

“He’s fine.” He tells me ever so calmly. “He’s just shy and prefers observing, studying his surroundings instead of talking.” He adds with a tone a bit too confident concerning the psychological state of that child. I don’t need a psychiatrist to tell me that something is not right with him.

“Or he might not understand a word we say to him or worst. His trauma is at a critical.” I voice out my concern but Mr. Masaoka isn't taking my worries seriously. This isn't a joke.

“He understands everything. As a matter of fact I managed to get his name this morning.” He informs me and I wonder why he waited so long to tell me this. If the child spoke to him this morning, why didn’t he report it to me when he called? “His shyness makes him seem vulnerable but he’s far from that. I have to say that he’s exactly like his father.” He tells me rather proudly and I was afraid this might happen.

“Masaoka-”

“It’s alright little missy. I got Shion to conduct a test for me. The results came in later last night.” Mr. Masaoka gently cuts me off as he explains in a low tone as he continues, “That boy, he's my grandson.”

I feel like someone just slapped me right in the face. For starters I’m confident in Ms. Karanomori’s skills so it’s impossible an error was done. As for this news, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to me but it does. It's true that the resemblance is far too great to the point of it being a bit creepy. But, it does make sense. The age of that child and the time of Ginoza’s death does fit. DNA doesn’t lie and even though I should be happy of the news, it kind of makes me sad all the same.

“His name is Robb. That’s all I got out of him but he did advise that they are here.” Mr. Masaoka says in a whisper before looking over his shoulder and continues, “We need to be even more careful. I strongly advise we reach out to SHIELD to get a conference as soon as possible.”

“I agree. It should be our next move. As much as I am pleased to know that a part of Mr. Ginoza lives on, we have to get that child off our hands.” I tell him as I try to hide my bitterness in my voice.

I know the moment that SHIELD enters the picture officially by our invite, Mr. Masaoka will never see that child again. Agents of SHIELD will surely make certain of that and that alone angers me. I’d be willing to bet that they of all people know the truth about this child being Mr. Masaoka’s grandson. The child probably isn’t even aware of the truth either.

“Mr. Masaoka, please don’t grow too fond of this child.” I advise. “By all means, he probably doesn’t know who you are and you know as much as I do that SHIELD will make sure that you never see him again.” I add the harsh truth but Mr. Masaoka doesn’t even seem bothered by it.

“He knows more than what you may think little missy. He surely knows more than what he lets on. I may not know everything about that boy but I do know he ain’t stupid.” He tells me.

“What makes you say that?” I ask.

“He knows about my arm. He knows it’s not real even though it looks and feels like the real thing. The only way he could know the truth is if someone told him and I know for a fact that he knows who I am.” Mr. Masaoka explains.

I wish I could say that he’s right. That the child really does know him but I just can’t think the same way as he does. There are many ways for this child to know about Mr. Masaoka’s arm. Yes I do agree that someone must have told him some information but I don’t think he learned this information innocently. Perhaps that child might not be so innocent. When it comes to SHIELD, I wouldn’t put anything past them.

**XXX**

* * *

 

**Chapter 4.5**

**Shusei**

I don’t know what I was expecting. Of course mom wouldn’t remember about my game tonight. She never does and the only time that she doesn’t is because dad kept on reminding her constantly. I don’t care if she’s busy with her work; it’s not an excuse to always forget about everything. It’s a miracle that she hasn’t forgotten my birthday. Although, I’m sure that she has but only managed to save her ass at the last minute without me knowing about it.

Anyway, I guess it doesn’t matter. My game has been canceled until further noticed in fear of another terrorist attack. Something similar to what happened yesterday at the museum of which I get. I mean, a high school basketball game could be a good target for a madman. The only thing I don’t get is why they canceled school today too. The last I checked, the doors are kept locked during school hours but oh well. I guess it’s much safer to have kids wandering around in plain sight than being behind solid walls.

Not that I care. The school board can do whatever they want. It’s not like it’s going to matter to me in the slightest. Actually, not having any school today suits me quite well. Mom and dad thinks I’m in school which gives me the total green card to hang around SHIELD’s Bay Area. Mom would surely lose her marbles if she knew I spent most of my time here. Especially since SHIELD is supposed to be this terrible organization that uses brutality to control people but that’s not what they are. They’re amazing and I’ve long since decided that once I become of age, I’m joining SHIELD. Hell, I wont stick with Sibyl like mom and dad does!

I honestly don’t get them. I’ve heard them express their discontent about the Sibyl system on many occasions and yet they keep on risking their lives to defend it. Yeah, I get that it does help people live a good life by knowing exactly what kind of profession is right for them but that’s it. The rest, we’re just prisoners forced to behave and say what a computer wants. I can’t live my life like that forever. I could but I can’t do it and I won’t.

“Maybe you guys should attach a rock at the end of the cord for stability.” Margaery voices out snapping me out of my thoughts.

I’m not exactly sure why we’re wasting our time in trying to prove this myth wrong. I mean, it’s only basic logic that there is no way that Benjamin Franklin could have survived after being struck by lightning. I do believe that he used a kite with a metal key attached to it but I seriously doubt it that he was holding it himself.

So far, this myth is pretty much busted in every possible way. It’s just not working and all the results we’re getting is that yes the key gets charged up which makes sense but that’s it. Also being a kite who is solemnly moved by the wind, it’s also quite unpredictable. There’s just no stability so maybe Margaery has a point.

“Yeah, maybe.” Loras replies back as he pulls the kite back to the ground.

Margaery gives me the small rock and I quickly secure it into place onto the tail of the kite and add another small one in the middle of the body. Once both rocks are secure, I release the small kite as the wind catches it and it does seem like it has gain some stability. That is until the kite turned psycho all of a sudden.

“It’s a death kite. A kite of punishment.” I say as I watch it flip around violently as if it’s having a fucking seizure in mid-air and then without warning the kite flips up towards me followed by its tail smacking me in the groin sending a rush of pain to my stomach.

Loras can’t help but laugh as he drops down onto his behind as I stretch my legs to help ease in the pain. I’m glad that at least someone is enjoying my moment of misery but I guess I should have seen it coming. Why can’t our myths leave my balls alone?

“That made it all worth wild!” Loras states in between laughter.

In all my painful misery that is slowly spreading away and reducing bit by bit, at least I have Margaery. Hell, I’d allow myself to get hit in the boys constantly if it meant having her glued to me. She never fails to come to my aid whenever mishaps occur and ever since meeting her, I’ve grown quite fond of her. Also being my best friend’s sister allows me to see her constantly without it being weird but I can’t bring myself to ask her out. Every time I try, I chicken out.

“Hello darkness my old friend!” I hear someone shout in the distance only to see that it’s just Loras’ dad standing on the rooftop of the warehouse dressed in bomb disposal gear.

What the hell is he doing in bomb disposal gear on the roof of all places? Oh wait… I don’t think I want to know considering the crazy things he does with Bryan almost on a daily basis but everything they do are awesome. Their crazy antics does help in solving crimes by replicating certain things. On many accounts their experimentations proved the innocence of many people who would have otherwise been proven guilty.

It’s the things that they do when they are not out on the field that got me interested in joining SHIELD in the first place. When they're not busy being soldiers, they experiment on myths and such to see if they are plausible or completely busted. Most of the times it consist of explosions and bullets but everything they do is just plain awesome.

Normally we would be testing things on a greater caliber but Robb and Emilia can’t be here today. I’m still disgusted by the fact that both of them were implicated in the museum incident and Robb got severely injured yesterday because of it. I’m even more disgusted by the fact that my parents knew about it and said nothing. Of course they wouldn’t due to privacy things but still.

“Your dad is weird but great.” I tell Loras who has since found his way back onto his feet and Margaery is trying to dismantle the psychotic kite without getting smacked in the face by a the rock tail. “But exactly what is he doing on the rooftop that involves him in wearing bomb disposal gear?” I ask.

“I don’t know. Something to do with giving Sibyl hell or something of the sort.” He answers back as I see his dad get out of view sight on the rooftop.

“Does he plan on blowing something up or what?” I ask as I try to hide some of my uneasiness. I don’t think that Loras’ dad would do something like that to Sibyl but a part of me is saying that he might if his buttons get pushed a bit too much. The fact that they have Robb in their possessions could possibly be enough to cause chaos.

“Do you really think my dad could be capable to blowing something up?” Loras ask as if trying to make a point. Margaery looks up to face her brother and I can just see it in his face as he thinks hard about what he just said. Considering everything that we do at the bay area, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise that he would let out a few bangs here and there.

“I think he blows things up for a living.” I voice out as I see Loras’ dad come out of the warehouse with Bryan. Both of them dressed up in the same get up and the more I think about it, maybe it’s best that we don’t ask any questions. We’ll probably find out later anyway.

“Yeah, yeah he does.” Loras admits but it’s not like the guy would actually blow things up involving innocent people in it. That’s not how he is but I’d love to see what SHIELD has in store for Sibyl. I’d love for them to pull the plug on that bloody system.

Oh well… Nothing we can do about it other than wait. It’s only a shame that Emilia decided that she didn’t want to come to the bay area today. If she had been here we could have done some sweeter things. I guess no use fretting about it. We’ll get plenty of chances later and I’m hoping for a grand boom or something absolutely crazy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Kougami**

What a fucking pain in the ass. I feel like grabbing this kid by the shoulders and shake him. Maybe that would help to place his brain back in place. For god sakes, there’s a missing girl and this brat prefers to remain a mute instead of giving us information in order to locate this girl. By all means, all of this unnecessary stalling is only further reducing the survival rate of this girl.

Robb…

According to Pops, that’s the name the kid identified himself as. To be honest, his parents could have done a better job in naming their kid. What a god awful name to brand someone. For starters, the name sounds much too Western and not to mention it’s so old. After all, the name is derived from the name Robert and we all know that’s a European name. I’d be willing to bet that the name was chosen by his mother who thought the name was so new age shit. Probably also a way to get the kid to sound boring in order to keep Sibyl’s eye away. In a sense, can’t say that it wasn’t smart. The name sure doesn’t attract attention at the mention of it.

It feels strange having to keep an eye on this kid. No matter what, I keep on thinking about Gino and I end up thinking about things that I shouldn’t. No matter what, this kid can’t be and isn’t Gino. No matter how much I want him to be, he’s just not but his presence is maddening. I’m ashamed of myself for having these thoughts about a kid only because of his resemblance to someone I allowed to get away from me all due to my obsession.

Gino is the one that got away and that will always be my biggest regret. The only one to blame for that is me. Everything that turned bad is all on me. I may not have been the one to slit his throat back then but I might as well have. Maybe not directly but I’m the one who killed him. Gino wouldn’t have died if only I had not gone after Makishima. He died knowing that my obsession became my top priority over his wellbeing. Hell, I abandoned both Pops and Gino to die on that day...

The thing is, seeing Robb. A kid I know nothing about gives me a sensation that maybe this is the universe’s way of telling me that I have a second chance. A second chance to make things right. The only thing I wonder is if Robb would be interested in me. The age difference is great though. I’m old enough to be his father but age is just a number right? What the hell am I saying!? This is beyond wrong!

I almost did a huge mistake a few hours ago when he had been given permission to clean up by the doctor. He was in the middle of taking his shower when I heard a loud commotion in the bathroom. I didn’t take the time to think, I immediately acted to find that he had lost his balance in the tub and had fallen. Just as quickly I had sprinted into the bathroom, I grabbed the bathrobe to cover him as I lifted the kid in my arms and brought him back to his hospital bed. It’s only once the adrenaline had past that I became consumed with lust as my eyes met his. His wet hair, dripping down his beautiful face was too much. It was intoxicating as he laid naked under that bathrobe. If it hadn’t been for Pops entering the room when he did, I probably would have done something terrible in that moment.

I shake out of my thoughts when a nurse enters the room and I must say that she looks a bit too good to be a nurse. Even though her uniform is worn a bit baggy to facilitate her movements, I can still tell that she’s got one ass kicking bod hiding under that white uniform. I’d be willing to bet that she works out every day and that rack and junk is rather hard to ignore. To put the icing on the cake, she’s got a face of an angel. The fashion industry would definitely give anything to have such a beauty in their arsenal of models. High cheek bones with a strong feminine jawline and full lips combined with doe eyes. And don’t get me started with her reddish hair. She’s definitely quite a beauty, it’s only a shame she’s wasting her looks within an hospital.

“What are you giving to the kid?” I ask when I catch a glimpse of the nurse slipping a pill into Robb’s hand, catching her attention in the process.

“Melatonin. A natural substance to induce sleep.” She tells me with a soft tone.

“I would need to see the doctor’s requisition for the usage of such drugs.” I tell her as I stand up to meet her green eyes and I have to say, this is one hell of a tall woman. I don’t know why I thought she was shorter, it’s only once I stood up that I realize how tall she really is. I’d say she must be at least 5’7’’ if not a tad bit taller.

“Of course.” She replies back handing over the clip board and here it is. The authorization for the usage of melatonin as per Doctor Bruce Banner. I can’t argue against this but there’s something in this woman’s eyes that makes me uneasy. This woman, she’s no nurse. I can’t prove that she isn’t but the look in her eyes tell me that she’s a killer and she’d be more than willing to kill me if need be.

Is she an agent of SHIELD? If she is, we might be in a world of trouble if so.

“Carry on, nurse.” I authorize and ask, “What’s your name?”

“Natalia.” She quickly answers. “Natalia Farrow.” She adds just as quickly.

I nod in acknowledgement before walking out of the room and make my way down the hall as the name Farrow keeps on resonating in my mind. I know I’ve heard that name before. It’s familiar and I know I’ve heard that name recently too. Where did I hear that name? Farrow… I know this name. I’m positive that I’ve heard it before and I have a bad feeling about this. And this woman who calls herself Natalia. My instincts are telling me that she’s bad news for us and we have to act now.

“Taking a break from being a sick middle aged man?” Sugou voices out catching my attention and I just want to punch him in his perfect white teeth. I fucking hate that bastard.

I’ll take it that Pops probably said something about my incident earlier. Of course this jackass would twist things around. It’s not like I intimately touched the kid. I was simply mesmerized by his beauty. I didn’t violate Robb in any way. Actually when I picked him up when he had fallen, I was able to hide the major part of his body and I didn't see his private parts. I didn't even try to see either so how am I a sick middle aged man?

“Shut the fuck up for five minutes.” I shoot back. “We all know you’re incapable of keeping your mouth shut for a minute.” I add as I take out my pack of cigarette.

“No smoking in a hospital.” Sugou tells me, never bothering to take his eyes off his file that’s laying on a table with his coffee next to it.

I shove my pack back inside the inner pocket of my jacket as I sit down on a chair on the other side of the table. Not caring to be near this bastard but I don’t have any choice. To be honest, I don’t know what Akane even sees in this bastard to begin with. She definitely could have done better in her choice of men.

“SHIELD is coming to take Robb to their facility later today.” Sugou informs me like it’s nothing. Like seriously this is a problem for us. We still need him in order to locate our missing girl.

“Coming? They’re already here.” I voice out, catching his attention in the process as I add, “That hot nurse with the red hair ain’t no nurse.”

If my suspicions are correct, SHIELD infiltrated this hospital from the very beginning. That red haired nurse was here the moment we arrived at the hospital to rush Robb into surgery. They’ve been watching, waiting for their chance to pounce on us the moment they can. It might also explain as to why Robb refuses to talk to any of us when questioned. It might also explain why he hasn't had any other episodes since he has seen some familiar faces and that alone helps to calm his nerves down.

“You think?” He asks with a damn smirk as he returns his attention onto his damn file. If this fucker already had his suspicions and kept it to himself I’ll fucking punch his fucking brains out.

“Cut the shit out. We all know you ain’t working.” I tell him.

“At least I’m being productive and not undressing an under aged boy with my eyes.” He shoots back as he looks up to meet my gaze and I just want to flip the table right over him. He’s such a fucking pretentious little ass.

“Do share how productive you’ve been.” I reply back, not bothering to hide my sarcasm as I try to control myself from just getting up and smack him across the head.

“I’ve identified our missing girl.” He states and that at least catches my curiosity. I want to hear this bullshit he’s come up with. “All thanks to the tiny bit of information we got from Robb.” He adds.

The tiny bit of information that Robb provided? Hell, the kid has not provided any information for us to work with. Unless Pops had more information that he kept from me but I seriously doubt it. I know he has a grudge against me but he wouldn’t keep valuable information from his team. That’s not how he rolls.

“And how the fuck did you identify our missing girl with basically nothing?” I ask as I wonder what kind of bullshit he will come up with.

“His name.” He answers back and that makes no sense. What about his name? It’s a lame and boring ass name.

“And?” I say back, not bothering to show much interest in his little pointless theory.

“In our list there is only one kid by the name of Robb. Only one and with that I was able to get his last name which is Farrow.” Sugou explains and continues, “So with that, I noticed that there is also an Emelia Farrow in the list as well and I started with that. Guess what I was able to find?”

“What?” I ask with my full attention now.

I knew that name sounded familiar so does this mean? No way. I know that Akane told me that Robb is Gino's son but there’s no way that woman is Robb's mother and to be honest I'm having a hard time believing that Gino fathered a kid. There’s just no way. Gino can’t have had a child without me knowing. He would have told me and if he had not, I would have been able to tell that he was hiding something. There’s no way he could have been dating someone without being so obvious about it. Gino was like an open book, I would have discovered his secret right away. That woman, that kid has absolutely nothing to do with Gino.

“I found this on social media.” He tells me as he takes a page out of his file and hands it to me.

It’s a copy of a picture with Robb in it and right next to him is a girl with an identical face. The same piercing green eyes, same dark hair and same pale skin. The only difference is her long flowing hair. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.

“That girl is Emelia and we don’t have that body downstairs in the morgue. That’s our missing girl.” Sugou tells me but I can’t take my eyes off that picture. All of this is just so crazy. It makes absolutely no sense. So does this mean that Robb has an identical twin sister? What the fuck!?

“Where are you getting at? How do you even know that she’s not dead?” I ask not wanting to believe this madness. This is too much. One Gino alike was enough. I don’t know if I can handle two and to make matters worst, they're both hot. This is completely crazy.

“They’re twins Kougami. Rare for identical dual gender but not impossible.” He explains. “I know she’s alive for the fact that she updated her social media this morning.” He adds as he takes out another page from his file and hands it to me.

From what I can tell on this sheet, looks like she’s been busy on social media quite a lot this morning. I can’t tell if she’s having problems to cope with the incident or not. Actually from what I’m seeing on this, I wouldn’t be able to tell that she was a victim of a terrorist attack at all. It still doesn’t explain how she was able to escape this madman though without a single scratch.

“Kougami, I hope you have realized by now that Robb and Emilia are Ginoza’s children.” Sugou tells me and yeah, Akane told me and I have gave it some thought about it but it’s all so crazy. I just can’t come to say that this is a reality. It just feels so unreal. I can’t believe that a part of Gino is still alive but it’s impossible. How in the hell did Gino date a woman for who knows how long and no one could tell? I refuse to believe this shit.

“There’s nothing to prove that.” I protest.

“A DNA test links Robb to Masaoka.” Sugou informs me. “This is real Kougami. Ginoza was involved with a woman before his death. If he knew he was going to be a father before he died remains unknown.” He adds.

Pops didn’t tell me that a DNA test had been done on Robb. When was he planning on telling me? I can’t believe that he would keep such information away from me. All of this is just so sick. I’m offended that he left me out, kept me out of the loop and chose to inform Sugou of all people. We go a long way. We have history. How could he do that to me?

“What about Natalia Farrow?” I ask catching Sugou’s attention this time. “The nurse that’s in Robb’s room at the moment. You know, tall, hot babe, red hair?” I add.

I may hate this guy but I can recognize the look in his eyes when he feels that something isn’t right. We don’t say anything as we rise up to our feet and quickly make our way back towards Robb’s room only to find that he’s still there and well. He’s finally fallen into a slumber so I guess that junk Natalia gave him was legit but still.

“Can I help you?” The nurse asks and there’s just something I don’t like about her.

“You’re coming with us. If you think we’ll let you walk out of here with that kid, think again.” I tell her but she doesn’t seem bothered by my declaration.

“Enough, Kougami. We don’t need to get violent. There’s no place for violence around a child.” Sugou voices out and that sappy excuse to not get his hands dirty pisses me off. It’s not like a fist fight will further traumatize this kid. What a joke. “Can we speak outside for a moment, mam?” He asks and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as I turn around and exit the room followed by this fake ass nurse and Sugou in tow.

Sugou gently closes the door of the room once Natalia steps out into the hall. It's not like shutting the door will prevent any noise from reaching the kid. He’s so fucking stupid. He sure as hell wouldn’t have survived half of the things I’ve been through. I’m way tougher than he is without a doubt.

“You have five seconds to-”

“What’s going on here?” I hear Pops’ booming voice come from behind like a sharp knife through my chest. Just by his tone, I know he won’t be taking my side. It’s like I no longer know this man. Sometimes I think his promotion from Enforcer to Inspector might have played with his ego. The fallen detective that climbed back into the good graces of society.

“She’s a SHIELD agent.” I quickly point out as I meet that woman’s eyes. She doesn’t try to deny it either. She’s guilty and she knows it. I must say, SHIELD could have sent in a way better agent than this. She was so fucking obvious and I’d be willing to bet that her fucking name is fake as hell.

“Correct on that, Kou. Natalia is an agent of SHIELD in the medical field and so happens to be the mother of that boy.” Pops states.

I turn my gaze towards Pops. Hoping that he’ll tell me that this is just a joke as I turn back my gaze onto that woman. It just can’t be real. Gino was good looking but how in the hell did he manage to get a woman that hot? I fucking give up. Nothing is ever going to make sense anymore.

“I apologize for Kougami’s behavior. He might be a bit brutal but he’s a good detective when need be.” Pops quickly apologizes to Natalia as he extends his hand, “Tomomi Masaoka and this is Inspector Akane Sugou.”

Natalia shakes Pops’ hand and gives him a quick nod followed by a smile and does the same with Akane. I don’t say anything as I back away a little into the background as I observe this woman that Gino was somehow in love with and it makes no sense. A woman with that looks just seems impossible for Gino to get. I don’t get it. How in the hell did he do it?

Now I’m sexually frustrated…

**XXX**

* * *

 

**Chapter 5.5**

**Masaoka**

The conference with SHIELD concerning the incident went by quite well. Although they claim that everything is good between both parties, I seriously doubt it that they will forget this incident any time soon. It’s highly crucial that we don’t do any more slip ups when SHIELD is involved. They surely won’t remain quiet if they get a second opportunity to jump onto our throats.

It does sadden me to know that in a few hours, SHIELD will be taking Robb away and this will probably be the last time that I see him. I must say that Sugou did do some good work in solving the mystery of the missing girl by connecting all the dots. Using Robb’s name as a lead was a good idea but I have to admit I did not expect to learn that I also have a granddaughter. It’s was indeed a pleasant news.

Kou on the other hand can’t seem to fail on disappointing me. He was much better than this. Why can’t he understand that he was so much better when he behaved accordingly? The time when he was an Inspector, he was mature for his age and he wouldn't jump to confrontations so easily. He would take the time to assess the situation before jumping to conclusion. To say in general, he was a better person in general. I wish that Kou would come back.

When Kou was an inspector, he was respected and loved for the person that he was. He wasn’t such an airhead. Now he seems to constantly act without thinking. It’s a behavior that I can’t afford to have on my team. If he doesn’t shape up, I’ll have no other choice but to let him go. By all means, I’d like to avoid that scenario. No matter what, he’s good at sniffing criminals out. The thing is, I know deep down that the Kou I had worked for is still in there. I’d like for that old Kou to come back.

I was disappointed when the first thing I see when we were done with the conference with SHIELD was to see Kou pick a fight with one of their agents. Such behavior surely won’t help us in the long run. They can surely use something that small against us if need be. It makes our Enforcers seem like a bunch of lunatics that the inspectors can’t control. It sure is not the kind of reputation that we need if we are to further expand the Sibyl system.

It’s no secret that it didn’t suite Kougami too well when I came to the defense of Natalia. He would have preferred getting physical with that woman instead of letting her be. He is correct that she is no nurse but she is an agent of SHIELD none the less. I don’t doubt her skills in the medical field, she does hint me as an highly intelligent woman but she’s more than just a pretty face.

Apologizing on Kou’s behalf wasn’t necessary but it gives a good face. It would have looked better if he would have done it himself instead of me but I know he would not have done so. Apologies for mistakes demonstrates a better character in a person. It’s simply a basic human thing to do.

“Emilia, our missing girl is well?” I ask Natalia.

“Unharmed. She’ll be better once reunited with her brother.” She answers and that’s good. I’m relief to know that she did not receive any injury. Emilia was by far as lucky as anyone can be.

“I’m sure Robb will be better once he’s reunited with his sister as well.” I state.

“He will.” Natalia adds with a soft smile.

I return a smile when a man clad in battle equipment suddenly slides on the floor into view and quickly proceeds in shoving Kou into the janitor’s closet. He proceeds to abruptly close the door and casually adds his bodyweight onto the door as if he has he hasn’t done anything at all. All the while I can hear Kou cursing as he tries to get out of the enclosure.

Natalia looks over her shoulder to face her comrade as if to assess the situation. He doesn’t move from his spot as he crosses his arms against his chest. Still slouching against the door to keep it from opening all the while ignoring the fact that he just shove another person inside a closet. Natalia doesn’t react much other than giving a light shrug before returning her attention back on to me as if this is a normal reoccurrence.

I quickly glance towards the little Missy, she’s watching the masked soldier but doesn’t say anything. Sugou is ready for any command we may have. Is this a way for SHIELD to cause a commotion in order to get a reaction from us or is this soldier simply acting of his own accord? We have to act wisely here.

Kougami further voices out his discontent as he continues trying to get out. Another man comes into view. A rather large man dressed in the red, white and blue colour. Donning a half mask which seems to function as a helmet as well as concealing half of his upper face. This one seems rather more serious as he stops in front of his comrade that’s keeping my Enforcer captive.

“What’s that?” He asks.

“Took out the garbage.” The hooded soldier answers back with a low voice that can’t possibly be his regular voice. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that he’s using something to mask his voice in order to hide his identity. Or perhaps its just his normal gear.

“Let him out.” The other man orders and his comrade nods in agreement as he suddenly opens the doors which only resulted in Kou falling face first onto the floor further fueling his rage.

“Motherfucker!” Kou barks back as he rises up to his feet only for the soldier to rise his right hand up as in to signal a pause before playing with a little box on his left breast followed by a rather high pitch screech.

My theory that he had been masking his voice was just proven correct. However, from what I can tell his device seems to be something that provides oxygen to the wearer when out on the field but this man seems to prefer using his gadget to annoy others or get on their nerves. Especially Kou in this case but there’s something that I’m missing. For a minute, Kou wanted to claw right into this man but he seems hesitant in doing so right now. Kou has had a confrontation with this one in the past. That I'm fairly certain about.

“Enough with the fooling around.” I quickly voice out, forcing Kou to back down. The last thing I want is a confrontation in a place like this. For god’s sake, this is a hospital.

“Oui mon capitaine.” The soldier shoots back to me in French as he puts some distance between himself and Kougami in a mocking matter towards my Enforcer.

I feel a lot of sarcasm coming from this individual. From the little I’ve seen of this masked man, I’d say that he’s got a sense of humor but I’d be willing to bet when he’s out on the field, he turns the complete opposite from what I’m seeing right now. This carelessness that he’s showing is probably a copping mechanism to deal with some of the horror of war he’s been through.

“There’s a sale at Penny’s!” The hooded man suddenly exclaims before running off from where he had first come from which makes me wonder what kind of mayhem he might come up with next.

Dressed in the way that he was, and with that size, he must be an intimidating individual to meet on the field. Normally agents of SHIELD sport their code names on their uniform but this one didn’t have one. The moment I saw him, I was fairly certain that a conflict was going to start. He sure doesn’t like Kou but I don’t think it’d be wise for Kou to pick a fight with that one. He’ll get crushed for sure and maybe Kou already was as I recall the story he had told us concerning a confrontation he had in the past. I’d be willing to bet, this monster of a man has to be the one they call Hawkeye and if so, his partner must have been close by.

“Nat you can wrap things up.” The other man voices out before walking away, probably on his way after his runaway comrade.

“I’ll finish things here. Best get the team to move out back to HQ.” I advise the little missy as she quickly agrees and urges Kou and Sugou to follow her. Leaving me alone with Natalia. “You’re good at playing with people. You haven’t fooled me though.” I tell her once the others are out of earshot, catching her attention in a curious manner but she doesn’t seem to be too bothered by the fact that she had blown her cover.

“How so?” She asks quite amusingly.

“You’re not my son’s lover, fiancé or his widow. You’re not the mother of my grandson or of my granddaughter.” I tell her as I study her expression but it remains completely neutral. Not a speck of emotion surfaced on her flawless face to betray her emotions. If she’s worried or not is something that she can conceal ever so perfectly from those she chooses. She's without a doubt the perfect individual to choose as a spy.

“What gave me away?” She asks with little concern as she invites me to follow her down the hall as she deactivates her holo nurse uniform to reveal a bluish black flexible leather catsuit that would allow her to move freeling without compromise if need be. The suit consist of a front zipper with fingerless gloves, sporting a utility belt with two thigh-holsters on both legs. Her SHIELD logo is visibly showing on her right shoulder with a red hourglass design over her stomach.

“You’re a beautiful woman with great intelligence so don’t get me wrong.” I tell her as I continue, “You’re just not my son’s type.”

“You’re right with that.” She agrees with no hesitation. “Disappointed you didn’t get to see the lucky lady?” She quickly asks.

“I would have preferred it. I won’t deny that.” I reply back. I would have indeed preferred to meet this woman that my son had fallen in love with. I would have loved to meet the mother of my grandson but I’m sure there’s a reason why she refused to show her face and instead sent in another to take her place. From the little I’ve seen on Robb’s social media and that of Emelia’s, this woman has been used as a double for the mother for a very long time. The kids are probably quite used to saying that this woman right here is their mother in public. “I will get to the bottom to whom murdered my son.” I choose to add hoping to get some expression on this woman’s face but nothing. If she knows something, she’s not giving anything away.

“And yet here you stand. On the other side from where you should be.” She shoots back in a halt before turning to face me. “Instead of choosing Sybil to hide, she chose SHIELD for her safety and that of her children.” She adds.

“Are you trying to persuade me from defecting?” I ask, with my eyes glued onto hers.

“I’m asking you to choose.” She admits without shame, never breaking her composure. “You’re a man who lost everything to the Sibyl system. Now, you have a chance to gain something you’ve always wanted. Its right there, all you have to do is reach out and grab it.” She adds and I can’t deny what she’s saying. It's true that the Sibyl system did take everything from me and by some miracle I was restored to grace but I would gladly return as an Enforcer if it meant I would have my son back.

Yes, the Sibyl system took a lot I held dear away from me. I lost my wife, lost my son and my life. I did gain some of it back but at what cost? I can’t deny if I defect to SHIELD I would have the chance to have a life with my grandchildren but switching sides won’t make things better. When you betray a faction, you’ll never be seen as trustworthy ever again.

“Is this the part where you tell me if I refuse your offer I’ll never get to see my grandson again or be able to see my granddaughter?” I ask the question that I already know the answer to. Today is the last day I’ll ever get to see my grandson and I’d be lying if that didn’t bother me. It also bothers me that I'll never get the chance to meet my granddaughter either. The very thought is like someone just stabbed me in my heart.

“I don’t have that authority to say so but we all know what the outcome will be in the end.” She answers. “Is your job, your title more important to you or is family?” She asks.

She knows exactly what to say in order to get those words to torment you even more than they should. She knows what to say and when to say it to make your decisions that much harder to do.

“And what do you know of family?” I ask back instead of answering her question. “Kou’s suspicions on you were valid. He just failed to realize that he was standing in front of SHIELD’s Black Widow. I know the kind of things you’ve done, I’m no fool.” I tell her.

Natasha Romanoff is a highly classified SHIELD agent. These agents are hard to get information on but they’re there if you know where to look. This woman right here is a deadly assassin and is even considered the best spy in the whole world. She lets you see what she wants you to see. She wanted me to catch on to her all in order to try and persuade me into defecting onto the other side. I can’t say that the plan isn’t smart. It surely is a smart move on SHIELD’s part. Get one of the oldest Inspector to defect in order to gain a whole bunch of information on the Sibyl system. That surely would be the best way to take down a system.

“Everyone have some skeletons in their closet. I’ve never denied the things I’ve done and although what I’ve done can be seen as monstrous, it has made me who I am.” She says and continues, “I was bred to be a monster but I chose to do the right thing.”

“And SHIELD is the right thing?” I ask.

“I’ll let the billions of lives that have been saved by SHIELD speak for me.” She answers but she fails to mention the shady side of SHIELD as well. She fails to mention the part where HYDRA had once infiltrated SHIELD and nearly caused a nuclear war. “I encourage you to rethink the offer. You have more to gain for a better cause.” She adds before slipping a small envelop in the front pocket of my jacket.

Natasha gives me a light smile before walking away. I wait until she’s out of view before reaching for the envelop and taking out the content only to find that it’s only a picture of two newly born babies. One is dressed in pastel blue while the other is dressed in pastel pink with facial features completely identical.

Looking at these innocent sleeping faces makes Natasha’s offer hard to resist. I can’t deny that I have much more to gain on the other side…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Masaoka**

I knew that SHIELD would take my grandson away the moment that they could and I probably will never see him again. Natasha’s offer continues to wander in my thoughts. If I were to take it, I’d be able to see my grandson quite often. I’d be able to meet my granddaughter and I’ll be able to watch them grow into adults themselves and if my body wills it, I might be able to see them have a family of their own.

If I were to take Natasha’s offer, I’d gain a lot but there’s still the unknown to take into consideration. Who’s to say I’d even be able to see my grandchildren on a regular basis if I were to take that offer. Who’s to say I’d even be able to see them at all. Of all that I know, I might be thrown into a cell the moment I switch sides. I’m not willing to gamble the freedom that I have for something that is not even guaranteed. There has to be another way that would allow me to see my own blood.

For the catastrophe that occurred last Thursday, things have calmed down during the weekend. It’s almost as if nothing had happened at all but it’s pretty much all of SHIELD’s doing. Right after we had our conference, they quickly jumped in and swooped the area. They sure did not waste any time to do damage control that’s for sure. The next thing we know, no one is talking about the museum incident as if nothing had ever happened.

The worst part in all of this was breaking the news to the parents that their children had been murdered. There was a wide range of emotions, from sadness and despair all the way to pure rage. Only one parent was willing to assist further to help us in trying to figure out how this incident had happened and how we can avoid another one from occurring. The mother of the child provided everything in terms of social media that her daughter used in hopes that there might be something that could explain as to why her daughter’s class had been a target. So far, Shion has not been able to find anything worth wild but she is still looking. There has to be something that might help us piece together some theories and give us some better answers.

It is still unknown if SHIELD is aware about this mother’s cooperation with Sybil. With the sudden access of this child’s personal computer, it is allowing us to venture deeper into the World Wide Web. Especially the portion that was controlled by SHIELD in order to protect their citizens so we might be able to find some interesting things on there. One thing I was surprised to see was the video based website that they have. It closely resembles a website that was popular back in my days for streaming videos for the mass population and it looks to be on the same basis as well.

A light knock snaps me out of my thoughts as I look up to see that it’s only Kou.

“You know Pops, you really should be more careful.” He tells me as he enters my living room. “Considering what happened, Paris is not a safe place.” He adds.

“At my age, there’s only one thing that could possibly happen to me.” I reply back. Whether I die today or tomorrow would not make much difference to me. After seventy-seven years, I can say that I’ve lived my life. There’s really nothing that is worth wild at my age anymore. Even though I now know that I have two beautiful grandchildren, it doesn’t give me a reason to live. They’re out of my reach which in turn, pretty much makes them inexistent but they do brighten my gray world a little. It’s better than nothing at this point.

“I’ll never be able to say it enough. I’m sorry about what happened to Gino…” Kougami voices out and I know he means it. He’s not saying it just for the sake of saying it but what he did back then digs deeper than any blade ever could.

I don’t hold any resentment towards Kou. Even if I hold a grudge, it won’t bring Nobuchika back to me. I don’t even care that Kou didn’t stop to help me. By all means, it should have been me that died that day. Not my son. I was old; I had the chance to live even if it was as an Enforcer for more than half of my life. Nobuchika on the other hand was young. He still had his whole life in front of him and if Kou had only stayed to help my son, I’m sure he would have lived. With Kou there, my son would not have been murdered.

“Gino wouldn’t want to see you like this.” Kougami adds.

“No, he probably wouldn’t.” I agree.

I know I hurt my son in more ways that I can count. My descent as a Latent Criminal caused him so much heartaches. He’s never wanted to talk to me about the things he had to endure and I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could have shielded him away from all that pain and I know because of me, my son was lonely. No one wanted to befriend the son of a Latent Criminal and sometimes I wonder if this loneliness was what pushed him to live this second live. My instincts tell me that my son met these unknown individuals before meeting Kou and after they became friends, my son never stopped this secrecy. That alone must have been taxing on his shoulders but it must have also given him a thrill at the same time. No matter how you look at it, what he was doing was probably against the laws of Sybil of which only further clouded his hue and in turn only caused him more anxiety.

“What are you doing?” Kou asks as he looks around the room and I know the place looks like a mess. He doesn’t need to say it but there has to be something among my son’s old possession that might help to put some clarity in all of this.

“Trying to find something.” I reply and add, “Answers.”

Nobuchika was never the type of person to keep unnecessary things. The things that he had were things that he was passionate about. He adored coin collecting and gardening was one of his favourite hobbies. Both of these interests he had came from his grandparents on his mother’s side. They were the most important figures for Nobuchika while he was growing up and without them, I don’t know what would have happened to my son.

My heart broke in two when Akiho told me about what Sae did. Never in my wildest dreams I would have thought she would have abandoned our child like that. I understood when she filed for divorce and I signed the papers because I didn’t want to take away the opportunity for her to have a better life. I signed it with the intentions that it would be for the best. Not just for Sae, but for my son’s future. If Sae wanted to remarry, I had hopes that it might also give Nobuchika at least the chance to have a father. Instead, she walked out and left Nobuchika in the care of her parents. I can only imagine how he must have felt when he woke up one morning and his only remaining parent was gone.

“Maybe you should focus more on the case we currently have.” Kou suggest.

“The little Missy is seeing to that.” I state.

There’s really no point for me to intervene in this case at the moment. Unless something arises and the whole division is required then I will join the fray. Right now, the little Missy is more than capable of handling this investigation on her own while I do my own investigation. It’s more productive this way.

“Pops, the results of the autopsies of the dead kids came back.” Kou voices out with a pained expression. He doesn’t have to say it, I already know. I’ve known ever since day one what had happened to those kids. Maybe I should have said something to the team but I had to protect my grandson. “All the girls had sex before their deaths and it would seem the boys had ejaculated prior as well.” Kou further states.

“Any signs of-”

“No. There’s nothing hinting that the girls were raped.” Kou quickly cuts me off and continues, “Looks like our madman might have forced the kids to have sex together with their own free wills. Probably he made them believe that they would be able to go free if they had sex with each other but we all know how that turned out.”

Yes our Latent Criminal had a twisted mind. There’s no doubt about it. He enjoyed watching other people suffer but it wasn’t the only thing he enjoyed. He had a few forms of paraphilia but the one that would stand out the most would have to be a tie between a sexual masochism and a sexual sadism.

“Is that what you think happened?” I ask Kou as I continue looking through Nobuchika’s things. I want Kou to come to the same conclusion that I got on his own.

“Yes and No.” He answers. “Yes because we have proof that some form of sexual activity occurred but I don’t believe that the boys had sex with the girls.” He adds and he would be correct with that.

“And why is that?” I ask to further encourage Kou to think more carefully about the clues that has been given to him. The answer is right there, he just needs to look a bit deeper. The answer is quite simple.

“Because the lunatic would have been able to slit the throat of one kid without a struggle but the other would have panicked and they would have tried to defend themselves.” Kou says and he’s on the right track. He just needs to continue and he’ll hit the bull’s eye. “None of the kids have any defensive wounds that would hint any signs of struggle.” He states and he is right except for one that is.

“Keep going.” I encourage.

I look away from my son’s things to watch Kou who has fallen silent. He’s deep into his thoughts and then his expression suddenly changes as it turns to dread and I know he finally figured it out.

“Fuck…” He blurts out tiredly as he sits down on the couch and buries his face in his hands for a few seconds before returning his gaze towards me to declare his findings, “The bastard forced the students to engage in sexual acts one at a time and Robb was the one he chose to be the receiving end which is why Robb was the last one of his victims.”

And that is the harsh reality. Right from the start, I knew something was off. All of the kids had no injuries other than having their throats slashed opened. It was as if they never saw it coming while Robb had so many bruises. His face was a mess for starters and he was obviously bound for some time. His mental state in the hospital was completely void of emotions as if he was stuck in a twilight zone. I knew something had happened to him but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

“I had my doubts that something of the sort had occurred to that boy.” I voice out and I see Kou’s expression change once again but this time he’s not shocked. I’d say he might be angry that I kept the information to myself. By all means, I had to. “I’ve seen it way too often to know otherwise.” I add.

“Yeah but-”

“Only a rape victim insist that they want to clean up.” I calmly cut him off and continue, “You can’t deny that it took a lot of effort for that child to drag himself to the bathroom only to take a shower.”

“Pops-”

“What good would it had done to conduct a rape exam?” I quickly ask before he can defend his point of view. To be honest, there would have been no point and no benefit if we had done such an exam. “First of all, Robb would not have calmly agreed to an invasive four hour exam of getting poked, prodded, swabbed and photographed.” I further state.

Someone who has been sexually forced upon are extremely vulnerable. Most of them don’t want to talk about what happened and in this case, it’s even more of a sensitive topic. By all means, Robb was abused over and over again by not only a criminal but his fellow classmates. The fact that people he went to school with and probably befriended turned around and abused him for their own sake. I’d also be willing to bet that the kids were murdered the moment the dirty deed was done and Robb saw every classmate die in front of his eyes. The criminal, probably had his fair share of fun with the boy as well.

“True…” Kou agrees.

“Don’t think poorly of me Kou. I only did what I thought was best for my grandson’s state of mind.” I tell him and it is the truth. “Our criminal is dead and so are the children that did the violation so collecting samples would have been for nothing.” I add and that reason alone is the only reason why I chose to say nothing. Why submit a traumatized child to an invasive exam that would have been for absolutely nothing in the end. All the suspects are dead so whatever specimen we would have gained would not have been much benefice to the MWPSB anyhow.

I’d like to believe that Robb will be okay. I want him to recover from this whole ordeal and for him to move on. Things would indeed be much better if his father was still around but I’m sure his mother will care for him.

“How do you feel about the knowledge that Gino has kids?” Kou suddenly asks but it feels as if he’s trying to get my opinion just so he can make his own.

“I was not expecting that but I will take it none the less.” I choose to say.

When I got to the scene. The first thing I saw was the boy dangling by the wrists in a pool of blood. The little Missy seemed to be in shock so without thinking I rushed to the child. Hoping that he was still alive. I wasted no time to cut him free and that’s when I saw the boy’s face. It was as if I was looking at my son dying all over again. I will always remember, as I was pressing onto the wound in order to control the bleeding. Robb was trying to speak but no words would come out. Just blood and the more time passed, the more everything that was transpiring was exactly the same as back then. It was only when the EMTs showed up that a sense of relief took over and I was able to back away. But I knew. I knew that the boy was not my son but I knew he was related and I was right.

“I met Gino back in high school in our Freshman year. We talked about everything together but he often kept isolating himself and I often tried to get him out of his shell but it only further pushed him away.” Kou recounts after a long silence. “He never told me that he had friends outside of our school. He never told me that he was seeing anyone or anything.” He adds but he can’t hide the pain in his voice as he spoke.

I can see that Kou feels somewhat hurt that Nobuchika deliberately chose to keep secrets from him but what did he expect? I’m sure there are things that he himself chose to keep secret from Nobuchika as well but to be honest I don’t think those secrets can come close to being equal. I don’t think that Kou lived a second life. I can understand how he must feel, as a father it hurts to know that my son was probably into something that caused him his death and I can’t help but wonder if he knew that he was in trouble. I wonder if he was scared and that he felt as if he had no way out. He surely could not come forward to the MWPSB concerning his safety. By doing so, he would have received a harsh punishment for his actions of which he probably would have been demoted from Inspector. Technically, my son was trapped between two walls and in the end, he died alone.

“I didn’t notice a thing either Kou.” I admit and I know I should have noticed something was off. Now that I stop to think about all the little things, there were so many times that the things he did just made no sense. The little white lies he told now seem so silly and yet no one caught any of them. Nobuchika truly did play us all like a fine violin but I am convinced that he knew he was being targeted. He mingled with unknown individuals and it cost him his life and his future and it left two innocent children fatherless.

“Yeah but you didn’t see him every day like I did. Back in high school we were pretty much always together. Yes there were times when we couldn’t hang out due to some curriculum activities I had but other than that, we were inseparable.” Kou states and that’s where he’s wrong. He wants to believe that Nobuchika just sat around doing nothing when Kou was off doing other activities. No teenager would ever just sit back and wait. He simply allowed Kou to believe that while he went out of his way to do things that he knew he shouldn’t.

When Kou and Nobuchika first became Inspectors, I could tell that they were close friends but I had seen friends who had a much closer relationship than they did. I could tell by the way Kou would look at my son that he bore strong feelings for him. His attempts to flirt with my son were subtle but they were never reciprocated much to Kou’s dismay. Even Sasayama tried his luck constantly to try and get lucky with Nobuchika and he too was unsuccessful. It’s only after Sasayama continued to fail in his advances that he got closer to Kou and I initially thought it was because he had shifted his interest but I couldn’t have been more wrong. Sasayama had only gotten closer to Kou in the hopes that it would allow him to get closer to my son. It was just another attempt on getting lucky but he failed at that once again.

At first glance, one would think that Nobuchika was oblivious to Kou and Sasayama’s advances and I believed it too. That is until I caught him talking to someone on the phone late one night after everyone had retired to their quarters and the Inspectors had all gone home. Nobuchika had stayed later to finish some work and I was passing by when that conversation caught my ear. He was not only aware of Kou and Sasayama’s feelings towards him; he actually thought it was funny how both of them competed for his affection. He proceeded on saying that he would never even consider neither of them. It’s one thing I’ve never been able to confess to Kou and I don’t plan on letting him know either.

“Precisely. There were times when you were not with him.” I tell him and add, “I should have noticed that something was off. What kind of a twenty-four year old goes to bed at eight every night?”

“No one but Gino…” Kou replies back.

“I’d be willing to bet that my son was not in bed sleeping at that hour.” I state and I know that Kou has long since realized this.

I wouldn’t say that Nobuchika was wild and was often out in the city at night and doing things that he shouldn’t be doing but he wasn’t a saint either. I’m sure that he was up to something every night with these people. He probably has his fair share of night adventures and then he would turn around and pretend to be this innocent pure young man. The perfect individual of the Sybil system but even now that I know my son was shady to some extent. I still love him and I miss him every day and I always will until the day I die.

“You’ve looked through Gino’s stuff time and time again. There’s nothing.” Kou tells me and that is true but I can’t help but feels as if I missed something.

“I underestimated my son’s ability of being so secretive-”

A few things come tumbling down, causing an even bigger mess when something catches my eye. I reach out for the book that has a thick and hardcover only to find it to be rather heavy. I flip the cover only to find that it’s not a book.

“What’s that?” Kou asks as he comes closer, unable to hide his curiosity towards my finding.

“It’s a safe.” I say as I try to open it but it won’t budge. “It’s locked…” I say.

“Let me see…” Kou tells me as he takes out a few pins from his jacket and I hand over the safe and he starts picking at the silver lock.

I wait patiently as Kou works his way at the lock. This is the first time I’ve found something that might be worth wild. I don’t recall ever finding a random key within my son’s stuff. It might have been on him the day he died or it might be hidden somewhere else.

“Got it!” Kou declares and proceeds on opening the safe in excitement only for his expression to drop. “It’s just USB keys. They’re all numbered.” He says, unable to hide the disappointment in his tone.

I don’t say a word as I take the small safe and pick the USB key marked with the number one and proceed on inserting it into the computer. The system slowly loads the key’s information and then one by one video clips start loading. Once the key is fully loaded, I click onto a random video. The video player opens up and after a few seconds the video starts playing and this is it. This is what I’ve been looking for.

Sitting on a white couch is my son. He can’t be more than fifteen in this video and right next to him is a petite girl with long blond hair and light skin. Without a doubt, this girl is not Japanese. If I had to take a guess, she’s probably around the same age as Nobuchika in this video but I can’t tell where this is being filmed. I don’t recognize the room. It’s definitely not at his grandparents’ place that’s for sure and the scenery that I see from the window in the background looks like they might be close to a beach.

“Eight adorable animals that are surprisingly violent.” The girl says with enthusiasm in an English accent.

“They're cute. They're cuddly. But beware! They're killers.” Nobuchika says in English in a light accent and this is something I didn’t know. I had no idea that my son was capable in communicating in another language. Considering the girl is not Japanese, he might have learned it from her at some point.

“Koala.” The girl says.

“They also mate quite aggressively.” Nobuchika quickly shoots back with a straight face, resulting in the blond girl to look at Nobuchika while I can hear others laugh in the background.

“You won’t let that one die out.” The girl says with an amused tone in her voice.

“I didn’t get any sleep because of them.” Nobuchika quickly replies back. “But then there’s Kiki.” He adds.

“I swear Kiki so wants you bud.” I hear a guy say in the background.

“Yeah I can tell.” Nobuchika says as he stands up and lifts his left leg to reveal a furry animal that’s holding onto his leg. “She won’t let go!” He states as he further rocks his leg sideways in order to try to get the furry animal to let go but he doesn’t budge.

“Hang on!”  A voice says and then a rather tall teenage boy comes into the video shot and pulls the animal away only for a loud screech to fill the audio. The boy quickly brings the animal back closer to Nobuchika’s leg and the animal grips back on for dear life.

“I’m forever stuck.” Nobuchika says as he tries to hold in a laugh. I can see that he’s enjoying himself quite well in this video. He seems happy and the kids do seem to be having a good time when suddenly my wristcom starts beeping and I wish I could have had a few more minutes but duty calls.

“Back to work.” I say as I close the video but I will be watching these later.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Mika**

“You know you're still under arrest, Captain.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, I guess you’ll have to chase me.”

My eyes open to meet my bedroom ceiling. It was that dream again. Not that I mind it, I like that dream but I had never been so scared and yet it was the wildest thing I had ever done in my whole life. Even though everything was going by so fast and I didn’t know if I was going to live or die. For the first time in my life, I felt a sudden rush take over my whole being. There were so many lives on the line and it was up to me to protect them.

Three years into being an Inspector, I had seen so many crazy cases but nothing could have prepared me for what was going to happen that morning. Everything had started as usual. It was a regular morning at work, taking the train to get to my destination with my Enforcers when suddenly a group of terrorist took over the train. My Enforcers quickly jumped into action to try and subdue the terrorists only for them to get themselves killed all because the dominators refused to shoot.

I was left on my own, not knowing what to do or how I could get myself out of this sudden mess. I could feel my anxiety grow by the minute and then a man entered my compartment. In that moment, I should have been scared that I might be next to die but for some reason, I didn’t feel like that man was a threat even though he armed with a hand gun in his hand.

It was thirteen years ago. Sybil was starting to expand further west and that’s when I had my first contact with an agent of SHIELD. Unlike me, he knew why the terrorists had taken over the train. He informed me that a nuclear warhead was on the train and that we couldn’t allow the train to get to its destination otherwise many people would have died. The agent proceeded into taking down the terrorists one by one as if he had done it so many times before. I couldn’t tell if he was afraid or not but he gave me the courage to go forward. While he took down the terrorists, I was able to contact Inspector Tsunemori and got her to raise an alert about the incident and even though the madness was still going on around me, I felt as if everything would be okay.

The whole thing only lasted a few hours but it had felt like an eternity. I was able to get the passengers to remain calm as we advanced from one cart to the next. With each advance, I would detach the cart to make sure the passengers on it could not become hostages again. It also helped to give the agent a piece of mind and to eliminate anything that could distract him from the task at hand.

With each advance we would make, the injuries would continue to pile on the man and I wondered if he would be able to pull through this. At one point, I felt my heart drop down to my guts as dread filled my body when he had fallen over board. I thought I was now on my own and worst, that he was dead but no. There he was, still hanging on as he pulled himself back up but not without further injuries. His shoulder was in bad shape. The skin had been torn off and I could tell he was in pain but he kept going until the situation was finally under control.

The train, once it was at an alt and the atmosphere had calmed down. His face had been the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. I was captivated by this man, maybe even infatuated even. I don’t know if it was due to the heat of the moment or if it was due to the adrenaline rush but I never wanted a man like I had back then. It was only when I heard the sounds of a chopper coming closer and a mixed of sirens that I yanked out of my trans. SHIELD had arrived to pick up their agent and Sybil had come for me.

To be honest, I should have arrested this man. He had killed so many men and maybe his hue might have been clouded to the point of being a Latent Criminal. But, if it had not been for him, if it had not been for his actions, everyone on that train, including me would have died. In order to save everyone on that train, he did some terrible things but they were necessary. After the incident was over, I just couldn’t see that man has a madman or a criminal. Towards me, he was just too kind for that.

It was that very incident that made me start questioning my position with the Sybil system. I already knew what the system truly was and at that point I just couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to protect people; I wanted to uphold justice but not the way that Sybil did it. My conscious could no longer take it and I knew what I had to do. I had to take that step and it’s a step that I don’t have any regrets. If I had to redo it all over again, there wouldn’t be anything that I would change. Maybe I would have done it sooner.

In the end, I was reunited with that agent after I switched sides. Actually he had helped me flee the Sybil system but I couldn’t be with him like I had hoped. I felt ridiculous for thinking that maybe we could have had something more but then again, of course such a man would be taken. All the good ones are always taken but my story did get an happily ever after. I did find someone else that captured my heart even more and I couldn’t be happier.

I get up from bed; do a quick stretch before starting my day and waste little time getting dressed. I have a feeling that today will be a busy day and I know it’s only a matter of time until Sybil tries to slither its way into SHIELD. I can only imagine how badly it must want to dig its claws into this organisation but they won’t get even an inch. I’ll fight until my last breath before I ever let that happen.

A soft smile forms on my lips as I watch my wife sleep and I give her a light kiss on her cheek before leaving the room. I’d hate to wake her so early; I know she’s been working very hard and she needs her rest. Penelope is basically the brains of the team when it comes into digging into data and with Paris becoming a bit more active, she’ll need all the sleep she can get. I know before long, she’s going to pull all nighters again.

I finish getting ready and bolt out the door. I’ll catch breakfast once I’m at the Bay Area. After all, Tony has this habit of making sure there’s plenty of food just in case the students who are attending his lectures were not able to get something to eat. He’s made a habit to make sure no child ever goes hungry on his watch and it’s something he’s quite strict about. I swear to god that man has a heart of gold. The things that man does for this society deserves to be praised. The contributions he has made to this world cannot even be measured.

The city is somewhat busy this morning as I walk down the sidewalk but it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Traffic is not congested and I’m able to get to my destination in a reasonable amount of time and as usual the Bay Area is quite busy. The students are hard at work with their specific projects and it’s great to see so many kids be so passionate about something.

I quickly make my way into the building and today it is rather quiet but that’s probably only due to the fact that the students are all working outside. I proceed forward and enter the restricted floor when I come across Pepper and as always she’s got this magical glow in her face. She’s so beautiful and I can easily see why Tony is so smitten by her.

“Where’s Tony?” I ask her.

“He’s in the lab.” She answers and with that, we part ways as I make my way down the hall towards the grand lab.

I input my access code into the key pad and enter the lab to find Tony at a computer and Robb lying on a stretcher with a few metal discs connected to thin wires that have been placed onto his scalp which is sending electrical signals to Tony’s computer.

“What are you doing?” I calmly ask, catching Tony’s attention for a second but Robb doesn’t seem to have noticed. I think he might have been sedated.

“Memory sweep.” Tony answers. “The incident is a bit too much.” He adds.

“Are you sure about this Tony?” I ask and I can’t help but worry about such procedures every time I see him do it. I know he’s done it many times but what if something goes wrong? I’m always afraid that it might cause permanent brain damage even though it always goes well. I guess I might just be over worrying about the whole thing since I know Tony wouldn’t do something if he wasn’t hundred percent certain that things would go well.

“Robb came to me this morning and asked me himself to have this procedure done.” Tony answers and continues, “I couldn’t say no. It’s a traumatic event that he just doesn’t want to remember. I can’t blame him for wanting to forget it entirely.”

“Are you erasing the whole incident?” I ask.

“No. Just the sexual abuse like he requested.” He replies back. “He accepts what happened afterwards but he can’t come to term with the violation.” He adds.

I wish I could say that I understand. I’ve never experienced such a thing. Actually, the train incident was the most brutal thing I’ve ever experienced. Even after switching sides, I’ve never been behind enemy lines. I’m just an assistant that majorly provides support to the team and I do press conference.

“Is the procedure complete?” I ask as I study the brain patterns. From what I can see in the readings, I can pin point where the heavy trauma was located in his brain and then as I continue reading the results, I see it quickly calmed down.

“Yes it’s all complete and you came just in time.” He says and with a few taps on the keyboard, Robb slowly regains conscious.

The boy pulls the thin wires to remove the discs off his scalp before sitting up on the stretcher and Tony walks up to him to complete the exam. To be honest, the look in Robb’s eyes is different. It’s back as it once was so it looked like the procedure was a success.

“So how do you feel, squirt?” Tony asks.

“Good.” Robb answers back.

“What do you remember about the incident last week?” Tony asks.

“I was held hostage and I nearly died.” Robb quickly replies back.

“Anything else in particular?” Tony inquires.

“I remember Inspector Masaoka was there and he stayed with me at the hospital.” Robb states with affirmation.

“Nothing else?” Tony further inquires.

“No.” Robb answers and I think even if we were to inquire about the sexual abuse, he really does not remember it and with that final answer I can see Tony is satisfied with the results. I am too; I hated seeing Robb so depressed. He’s such a bright boy. Maybe a little mischievous from time to time but I’d rather see him in full humor than being depressed like he had been all weekend.

Tony helps Robb on his feet and gives him his crutches and he slowly makes his way out of the lab but he can’t hide his annoyance towards them. Robb is not the type of boy who can just sit down and do nothing. He always has to keep himself occupied with something and he’s a huge fan of sports. Especially with basketball and not being able to play must be driving him crazy but his injury should heal fast enough. With Tony’s newest invention, the healing process should be twice as fast so if everything goes well. By next week, Robb should be back on his feet as if nothing ever happened.

“I’ve heard rumors that one of our victim’s mother has provided Sybil access to our intranet.” I voice out once Robb has left the lab and I know he’s no longer in earshot.

“Yup. They’re scoping it as we speak.” Tony confirms as he makes his way out of the lab and I follow.

“Shouldn’t we cut that point of entry?” I inquire, unable to mask my concern over the matter.

“Doesn’t really matter. Let them have the information, it’s not as if it will do them any good.” Tony replies back with little concern. “They can’t do anything anyhow.” He adds.

I wouldn’t be too sure about that. There’s still a lot of things they can do with the information they can find on our intranet. They can most certainly give us problems later on depending on what they find. We’ll have to be a step ahead of them, all the way. Otherwise, we will have quite a few problems on our hands.

I was an Inspector for three years and although it doesn’t seem long, I’ve seen enough to know that we have to be careful. Inspector Tsunemori might appear as a clueless and naïve individual but she’s much smarter than what she lets on. And then, we have Inspector Masaoka. He’s a seasoned veteran and he’s hard to be a step ahead of and I’m sure he’s on our tail. After all, I know that Natasha gave Masaoka an offer to defect to our side and if he were to accept he’d be able to see his grandchildren on a regular basis. And then, to make matters worse. They have that Enforcer Kougami. The man is like an animal. He’s a crazy lunatic but he’s effective on the field. Division one in general is a massive problem towards SHIELD. We have to administer extreme caution. Over my dead body I’ll allow the Sybil system to get their hands on the children.

“What does Jack have to say in all of this?” I ask.

“I can’t speak for Jack.” Tony states.

Of course no one can speak for Jack but it would be great to know what our leader has to say about this whole situation. He’s the one who calls the final shots but lately he’s been so quiet and I wonder if he’s actually feeling well. Jack, he is getting older and to be honest he can’t leave us yet. I just have a bad feeling that something is coming and we can’t afford for SHIELD to change leader. I’m pretty sure I know who will take on the mantle but we can’t afford this. Not right now. We need more time.

“Tony-” The alarm suddenly goes off and I know all too well what that means. Another incident has occurred and this time SHIELD has no intentions of sitting back and wait.

“Jarvis, status update!” Tony quickly orders and as he finished speaking, a computer holo appears before us.

“A shooting as occurred at the Jardin du Luxembourg.” Jarvis answers and that’s bad. Jardin du Luxembourg is where the fashion show was occurring today. There must be hundreds of people attending the show and that’s ignoring the models that are walking the runway.

“Any casualties?” Tony further inquires.

“Dozens have been reported dead, among countless others have been injured. The state of the injuries is as of yet unknown.” Jarvis further answers which only further grows my anxiety.

I can’t believe another senseless shooting just occurred. To make matters worse, Emelia was attending that fashion show and I pray that she somehow made another miraculous escape like last time. I can only hope that’s she’s alright but something is odd. Two attacks in a row and both attacks occurred in Sybil’s territory with mostly SHIELD civilians. It can’t just be a coincidence and here I was hoping that Penelope could have had more sleep hours today. Oh well, it’s time to report for duty.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Akane**

This is becoming a nightmare. First it was a hostage situation that resulted in the death of all of the hostages, all except for one. Now we have a massive shooting at a fashion show. As per eye witnesses, the shooters were just shooting at random. Actually they would shower bullets into the crowd to try and kill as many people as possible. We’ve got over fifty dead and the number keeps on rising and we have triple that number that are suffering from injuries. Those who are injured vary from minor wounds to life threatening ones.

“How are you?” Teppei asks.

“It’s anyone’s worst nightmare.” I tell him. “I’m fine.” I answer his question, giving him a gentle smile just so he doesn’t have to worry about me. I know it’s beyond his control, he just can’t stop worrying about me but that’s only because he loves me but I’m glad he’s here.

“SHIELD wasted no time to get involved this time.” He states and that’s true. We pretty much arrived at the same time and to be honest, I’m glad they did. If we would have been on our own, way more victims would have died. Even with the assistance of Division two and three, we still did not have nearly enough man power in order to handle such a large incident.

I venture through the crowd as I inspect the victims as I pass by with Teppei at my side. So many wide ranges of emotions I see. Some are crying their heart out, some are so anxious that they need to be sedated in order to prevent them from going into shock and others are quietly numb. It’s as if they are trying to process what just happened in their minds but that comprehend just want happened.

The victims could not have been any more different. Nothing makes any sense when a girl in the distance catches my eyes. Her face identical to Robb’s with long raven hair and here we have our missing girl from the last case. Who would have guessed that she’d be among the victims in today’s shooting? It’s almost as if these kids are a magnet to chaos, unless they’re the reason for the attacks in the first place. It might only be a coincidence but it’s one that I can’t simply ignore. Maybe the ones who murdered Mr. Ginoza are now trying to murder his children in order to eradicate his blood but why?

I calmly approach the raven haired girl who is just sitting on a bench alone, with her cellphone in her hands and it’s as if nothing happened. She doesn’t even seem fazed about the whole situation. It’s as if the shooting never occurred. One thing is for sure, she’s not scared or nervous but she doesn’t seem to have been harmed either. To say the least, she was one of the lucky ones.

“Hello, I’m Inspector Akane Sugo.” I introduce myself, catching her attention away from her phone.

“I know who you are.” She replies back with not much interest in her tone as she looks at me.

“How’s your brother?” I casually ask in order to try and break the ice with her. I don’t want her to think that I’m a threat towards her. I’m not her enemy and I want her to see that. I mean her no harm and if I can, I will do everything I can to protect Mr. Ginoza’s children. Even if I have to push at Sybil in order to make that happen.

“The question is irrelevant.” Emilia answers bluntly and I can sense much hostility coming from her. Unlike her brother, she’s got a sharp tongue and I’d like to say that it’s the trauma speaking but she doesn’t seem too bothered about what occurred today.

I see a lot of Mr. Ginoza in her. Her attitude and especially the glare she gave me as she spoke was just like her father’s that time when I had asked Mr. Ginoza if he had some issues with Mr. Masaoka. I had angered him back then and I should have tried to learn the reason why he was having issues with our eldest Enforcer at the time. It probably would have resolved so many issues. Anyhow, Emilia is truly her father’s daughter that’s without a doubt.

“The Inspector is simply trying to do her job.” My husband quickly jumps to my defense. “I’d appreciate if you were a bit friendlier towards her.” He adds.

“And I’d appreciate if you’d all leave my brother alone.” She shoots back and I think I understand what is going on here. She must think that we came here in order to use her in order to get information about her brother. I should have taken that into consideration before I asked her about that and it is my fault for the misunderstanding. She’s just acting upon her natural instinct and that is to protect her sibling and I’m pretty sure Robb must be the same towards his sister. After all, they’re twins. Their bonds will always be much stronger compared to other siblings.

“I meant nothing by it Emilia and I did not want to cause you any worries.” I quickly assure her as I give her a light smile. “I was there but I wasn’t able to stop the terrorist from harming your brother. Afterwards, in the hospital, he would not speak and as a mother myself, I was simply concerned about his recovery. That’s all.” I add but I choose not to mention that I knew her father. By all means, I don’t even know if her mother ever married someone else. All that I know, another man might have entered her life and took the role as the children’s father. I can’t take the chance of being the one to tell Emilia about her real father being dead.

“He’s fine.” She says with a calmer tone so I was right. She just felt like she needed to be the protective sister and I don’t blame her. I’d probably do the same thing myself if I were in her position.

“Can you please tell us what happened here today Emilia?” Teppei asks and right away Emelia gave my husband a sharp look and I know she’s going to bite back at that one.

“I think it’s quite obvious.” She answers back. “If you couldn’t tell, it was shooting.” She snaps back in a rather sarcastic tone which only further irritates my husband.

If there is one thing that he just can’t stand is sarcasm. When Shusei talks like that at home, I can just see Teppei boil but Shusei uses more than just sarcasm. It’s simply plain rudeness while Emilia is sarcasm alright but with some sassiness instead. She just points out the rather obvious and puts in some attitude while saying it. Needless to say, she shouldn’t be behaving that way. It will get her in big trouble one of these days but I do wonder if Mr. Ginoza was like that when he was her age.

“Is there anything about the shooting you can tell us?” Teppei further asks as he ignores her previous answer. He must have realized how silly the question must have sounded himself but he’s just following regular protocol and unfortunately he’s found himself stuck with a girl filled with sassiness.

“I’ve already gave my statement to the agents of SHIELD so you can get it from them. To be honest, I didn’t see anything. I did my catwalk and returned backstage when suddenly I started hearing gun fire so I took cover.” She explains.

That’s fair enough. Can’t say that her first instinct to hide wasn’t smart. Most of the time, people end up dying during shootings like this because they try to flee the scene. As they are running, they are vulnerable from what is occurring behind them and most of the time the ones who died were short in the back. Instead of fleeing the scene, they should take cover and simply try to hide. I know just thinking about it sounds ridiculous and a person’s instinct is to run but sometimes it’s better to wait.

One thing that caught my attention though. Emilia said that she did her catwalk and went backstage when the shooting occurred so that means that Emilia was one of the models in the show and I wonder what Mr. Ginoza would have to say if he knew his daughter, who is a minor is actually a model. She’s beautiful, I won’t deny that but I would never allow my daughter to be a model. That kind of lifestyle for a child is not a proper life for them and it actually causes more problems than anything else.

“Who are you messaging if I may ask?” I dare ask when she returns her attention back to her phone. Emilia doesn’t look up and instead continues typing her message before returning her attention towards me and my husband.

I bite my tongue from muttering my opinion about Emilia’s wardrobe choice. It’s most certainly not something I would allow my daughter to wear and if Mr. Ginoza were still alive he’d make sure his daughter would never wear something like that ever again. All she’s wearing is a buttoned up shirt that she decided to wear it like a dress with matching tan thigh high boots. It’s rather a bit too revealing if you ask me.

“My boyfriend.” Emilia answers. “He’s in class right now so I’m just updating him.” She adds. Not that it surprises me that she has a boyfriend. After all, she is a beautiful girl and now that I’m aware that she’s also a model, she must have quite the lineup of boys who are just begging to be with her.

Emilia being a teenage model, it does make me question about her mother’s values. It also makes me wonder if her mother herself might also be in that same industry. It would make sense but it only further makes me wonder how someone like that could ever become involved with an Inspector.

“Was he involved in your escape last week?” My husband suddenly asks and now that he’s mentioned it, it does make me wonder. I do know that a young man had called in to alert the authorities about the situation but he wasn’t at the scene when we got there.

“Look, I also gave my story to SHIELD about that. I was in the bathroom when I started hearing gunfire so I got out of there.” Emilia states and continues, “I called my boyfriend and he came to get me and took me home and that’s it.”

“That was a mature thing to do. Both you and your boyfriend made the right decision.” Teppei tells the teenager and adds, “Most of the time, the boyfriend always tries to be the hero when he should flee.”

“Heroes are idiots. I don’t date idiots.” Emilia quickly shoots back and that brings a smile on my lips. With that statement, I’m pretty sure she’d call Kougami a big fat idiot considering all the crazy things he’s done. But, what kind of world would we be living in if we didn’t have those idiots… Life surely would be quite boring, that’s for sure.

“What is your boyfriend’s name?” Teppei asks.

“Ty Borden.” Emilia answers back.

“And you said he was in class. What grade is he in?” Teppei follows with another question and I can feel her irritation grow in her face as he continues, “A senior?”

“He’s a university student.” Emilia replies back and that quickly raises red flags and just by my husband’s expression, he’s thinking the exact same thing as I do.

The more I learn about this girl, the more I’m left questioning the common sense of her mother. Where is she in all of this? I’m not stupid; I know that the woman we saw at the hospital is not Robb or Emilia’s biological mother. Instead of coming herself to see her child, she sent another in her place and now that her daughter was involved in a shooting, she’s nowhere to be found. By all means, she has deliberately turned a blind eye towards her daughter’s boyfriend. He’s an adult preying on a minor. It’s against the law whether it is with Sybil of SHIELD.

“So he’s an adult?” Teppei asks and he just wants a confession. I know that’s the only thing he’s waiting for in order to get a warrant to arrest this Ty Borden. I’ll arrest the man myself before I allow an adult to play with a minor. I don’t even care if Emilia is sixteen or seventeen. She’s a minor none the less and she needs to be protected. If her mother won’t do it then I will.

“Look it’s not what you think okay.” Emilia quickly jumps to her boyfriend’s defense but she’s too young to understand. Maybe in her mind, she believes that this man loves her but she’s just a child. An adult man who needs to date a minor is not normal. They’re predators.

“But he’s an adult?” Teppei asks again. “How old is he?” He further asks.

“If I answer will you promise that you won’t press charges against him?” Emilia follows up with her own question and it hurts seeing this girl try to protect a man who shouldn’t be with her in the first place. He’s toxic.

“Emilia, the law is the law.” I state, catching her attention. “We can’t turn a blind eye when we know an adult is having an affair with a minor.” I add and that is the harsh truth. If we were to turn a blind eye to this and something happens, it won’t end well for us.

“We’re not doing anything wrong. I love him okay and he’s the only one I’ll ever be with.” She tells me and I do believe that she does love him but this relationship never should have occurred in the first place.

“Okay… But I will be conducting an investigation on the matter just to make sure everything is legal.” Teppei quickly responds back but that clearly does not sit very well with Emilia. She definitely will not be cooperating with us any further at this point that’s for sure.

“Well, well. Inspector Tsunemori!” I hear a familiar voice call out to me and as I turn around, I see my former partner dressed in that same style of pant suit as before but she now wears her hair different. It’s in a simple half up, half down style which gives her a much more relaxed appearance.

“Agent Shimotsuki.” I acknowledge. “It’s Inspector Sugo now.” I add.

Although I’ve been married to Sugo for the last fifteen years, a lot of people still address me by my maiden name instead of my husband’s. Although my husband doesn’t really care what people address me as, to me it is very important. Teppei is my husband and I’m his wife and I demand to be seen as such.

“Emilia, I’ll be taking you home.” Shimotsuki declares to Emilia. “I’ll meet you in the car.” She adds and without a word, Emilia stands up and walks away with much eagerness.

“It’s nice to see you again.” I tell her.

I won’t deny that we had some moments where we just wanted to tear each other’s hair out. We didn’t agree on many things. To be honest, we didn’t agree with anything. We were often at each other’s throat but we were effective. Shimotsuki was a good partner but thirteen years ago, everything changed. The train incident occurred and although there are many things in that incident that is left unclear, Shimotsuki was never the same afterwards.

After the incident, Shimotsuki was much more distant and much quieter than usual afterwards. And then, one day she just didn’t come into work one morning. I knew something wasn’t right; it just wasn’t like her not to show up like that without calling to advise so I took the team to check up on her only to find that she wasn’t home. She had just disappeared into thin air until one day she was spotted with SHIELD.

Shimotsuki’s defection had caused a huge uproar. It was something that was just unheard of but it was her defection that had forced the Sibyl system to recalculate their position. They needed to make a change since Shimotsuki’s defection had given the guts to others to do the same. It was at that moment that Mr. Masaoka was reinstated as an Inspector and Enforcers were given a better quality of life. It was at that moment that Teppei and I were able to officially get married.

“Same wise Inspector.” Shimotsuki replies back.

It’s crazy how one person’s action shook the whole system but it happened and here we are. In Paris on opposite sides and I can’t help but wonder why she defected. What caused her to go that far? What really happened on that train? The only thing I know is that an agent of SHIELD was on that train and it was that agent that took down those terrorists. He did that all by himself and the story alone is unbelievable but it happened. A one man army some had nicknamed the agent. A one man army that had gotten the attention of Sybil but they were never able to get their claws into that agent.

“Hey Shimotsuki.” I call out as she was about to leave when I just remembered something Mr. Masaoka had expressed concerns about earlier.

“Yes?” Shimotsuki responds back.

“It’s not job related. I know you’ve been in Paris far longer than I have. Would you know any good veterinarian in the area?” I ask.

“What for?” She asks right back. “I didn’t take you as a pet person.” She adds with a bit of amusement in her tone.

“It’s for Mr. Masaoka.” I state and continue, “You remember Dime?”

“Is that dog still living?” She quickly asks with much surprise and curiosity in her tone.

“He is but he’s not been feeling very well as of late.” I admit and needless to say that it’s a bit of a sensitive subject for Mr. Masaoka. Dime is very important to him and he was doing fine and then all suddenly he just stopped eating. “Would you know of a good vet?” I ask again.

“I know one.” Shimotsuki answers and I hope she knows a good one. If Mr. Masaoka loses Dime, I know he’ll take it hard. Other than the children, Dime is really the only thing he has left. Dime is the only string that connects him to his son and if I can, I’d like to help him.

**XXX**

* * *

 

**Chapter 8.5**

**Masaoka**

“You did not have to come with me.” I say before getting out of the car. I’m more than capable of bringing my son’s dog to the vet all by myself. Hopefully what Dime has is only a minor condition and it will be treatable.

“I wanted to come.” Sugo expresses after he gets out of the car. “You know, for moral support.” He adds.

“Moral support, heh?” I repeat.

I know he had better things to do than tag along with me. I can’t deny that I appreciate the intention but I’ve accepted the reality that Dime will not live forever a long time ago. At one point, I will have to put him down but I’m hoping that day won’t be tonight. I don’t know what might have happened. He was doing fine and then Saturday he just stopped eating and just no longer had any enthusiasm about anything. Almost as if he no longer as any energy and something is weighting him down.

“Hey, you’d do the same for me.” Sugo states and I sure would.

I open the car door and Dime jumps out of the car but not with his usual sprint. Everything he does now is so slow and I hope he doesn’t have anything too serious. I encourage the old dog to follow as we enter the clinic that seems to be closed. The little Missy told me the vet would stay in later in order to accommodate my situation so I hope she was right.

I make my way inside with Sugo in tow and as we enter, a young man with short light brown hair and thin facial air is at the reception’s desk. By his looks, he doesn’t seem very old and by the thickness of his facial air, he’s in his early twenties and no older.

“Hi, I’m Ty Borden.” He quickly introduces himself when he saw us enter and rose to his feet to greet us. He walks around the desk and proceeds to lean down to see Dime a bit closer. “So is this Dime?” He asks.

“Yes it is.” I confirm as I watch him pet the old dog a little and then he quickly inspects the animal’s teeth.

“He’s an old one.” Ty voices out.

“Yes he is. Probably older than you are.” I admit.

“Oh he’s definitely older than I am. His teeth are in good condition considering his age. His coat is nice and thick.” He says as he stands up. “So what is the problem you’ve been observing?” He asks so I’ll assume this is my so called vet. The little Missy said that he was good. That he cares but he’s young so that doesn’t give me much confidence. Dime’s health is not as it used to be, he’s quite fragile and I feel as if a more experienced vet would be better. But he’s the only one I’ve got at this point.

“He’s not been eating much all weekend and he is getting old.” I start saying and continue, “He’s not as agile as he used to be and he barely wants to move now a days.”

Dime was already considered an old dog when my son died. To be honest, I didn’t think he would have lived this long but with the technology that we have these days, I guess it’s only normal. It’s only unfortunate that the human lifespan has not improved with the years though. Animals’ life expectancies have greatly risen with the years. Maybe in the near future, animals might be able to live just as long as humans.

“Okay. If you don’t mind we’ll start by doing some blood tests to see if there’s anything that might be causing this behavior and we’ll go from there.” Ty advises.

“Let’s do that.” I agree and I hand the young man the leash.

At first Dime doesn’t want to follow but Ty manages to get the dog to cooperate and they disappear to the back of the clinic. I turn to find Sugo wasn’t there anymore but he didn’t go far and I was able to find him sitting in the waiting room and I join him there. I quietly take a seat next to him as I wait patiently for the test to be completed and I’m hoping the results won’t bring terrible news.

I watch the small monitor that’s hung in the top corner of the waiting room. Various information about how to care for your pet is illustrated on the monitor. The illustration is simple to follow and the information provided is about various types of animal and yet they are still quite interesting. A few times, it also advertises specific products that the clinic sales that would help to protect your animal and then it switches back to more information.

The clinic itself is a good size. It’s not the largest I’ve seen though but I like this one better than the other ones that were larger. This one is cleaner, the smell is much better in my opinion. I liked the reception, the greeting was immediate and it felt warm. I felt, even if the vet is young, he was interested and didn’t behave as if I was a nuisance. But, what I loved the most was that the vet was still here at this hour. Other clinics would not have done that so I’m a bit more confident and I’m hoping that Dime will be good to come home. I’m getting quite fond of him. My son surely raised a fine dog.

After a while, I look at my wristcom to check at the time. An hour has passed since Dime had left and I wonder if some complications occurred. Probably it’s nothing but I can’t help but worry and not long afterwards I see the young man enter the waiting room with Dime on the leash.

“So?” I quickly ask as I stand up and Sugo also stands.

“Come with me.” Ty instructs as he hands me over the leash and we follow him into a small examination room. Ty sits down on his stool and turns the computer monitor towards me in order for me to see what’s on the screen.

Although I can’t make out anything from what I’m seeing on the screen, I know it’s Dime’s test result. To me, when I’m looking at it, it looks somewhat okay or either quite bad.

“The blood test came back normal. As you can see, everything is optimal.” He says as he points out the results of each chart. At least that’s good but it doesn’t explain why Dime no longer has any energy nor why is he no longer eating. “For an old dog, he seems to be in great health but he is starting to suffer from arthritis so that might be the culprit to this sudden behavior change.” Ty adds and that might be it.

To be honest, I haven’t heard that word in a long time. Arthritis is pretty much an unheard disease now a day in humans and although animals have a much longer life expectancy than they used to, they are still not immune to arthritis. The only thing though, with the disease being not seen as much, it’s a disease that is quite hard to treat. I’m afraid that Dime’s life is coming to an end.

“Be honest with me, in your opinion. Can he continue for a few more years?” I dare ask but I already know the answer. Dime is finished.

“Yes absolutely. I’ll be honest, there are no cures for arthritis but there are medications that we can give dogs to help ease the symptoms and slow it down but other than that he’s fine.” Ty answers with most confidence and continues, “His lack of appetite might be because of the pain.”

I’m starting to love this young man. He’s right to the point and although he’s young, he knows his stuff. I’ll have to thank the little Missy later. I’m quite satisfied with this vet and I think I’ll keep him for as long as Dime will be with me.

“Dime was my son’s dog. He’s all I have left.” I tell him. Not that he needed to know that but it felt good to let that out to someone other than the people I work with. He gives me this vibe that he does actually care.

“I understand.” Ty acknowledges. “I gave him a shot for the pain and medication for the inflammation around his joints so he should be feeling better soon.” He adds.

Money has never been an issue when Dime is concerned. A few years ago, I was told his digestive system was weak and he needed to be on a specific diet. I didn’t question it and simply changed Dime’s food for the prescribed one and Dime was doing better afterwards. I was even able to take Dime back on certain cases and hopefully I will be able to continue in the near future.

“Ty Borden right?” Sugo suddenly asks and I know that tone of voice of his. By all means, this is not the time to start interrogating people and I’m starting to think that he was only waiting for Dime to get treated before starting.

“That’s right.” Ty acknowledges.

“You’re the Ty Borden that’s dating Emilia Farrow. Am I correct?” Sugo asks and that peaks my curiosity. I don’t know where this is coming from but I want to know more if this young man is involved with my granddaughter.

“And you must be the cop that interrogated my girlfriend earlier.” Ty shoots back as he crosses his arms against his chest. He doesn’t seem nervous as he spoke but he can’t hide that the subject is making him uncomfortable and I can sense where Sugo is going. This is surely not the time or place.

“Yes that was me.” Sugo admits. “I understand why Emilia was concern that charges would be filed against you.” He adds.

Sugo is an excellent detective and I love the way he works. Everything he does is thorough and he always thinks before acting but right now he concerns me. Where in the world is he going about pressing charges?

“If I get a record. I can’t do my practice.” Ty admits and I can now sense the nervousness in his tone as he spoke. He’s right; if he receives any forms of charges he will no longer be able to do his practice and his studies will come to nothing. But that’s not going to happen. Only an Inspector can apply any charges. Enforcers can suggest it but it needs to be approved and I have no intentions of approving it and if the subject gets brought up to the little Missy, I will intervene.

“Perhaps you should have thought about that before entering an affair with a minor.” Sugo quickly states so is this what it’s all about? All because this young man is seeing my granddaughter? True he might be older than she is but even I can tell that this young man is responsible, mature and he wouldn’t hurt a hair on Emilia’s head. I’m quite certain that a misunderstanding occurred.

“Look, it’s not what you think.” Ty jumps to his defense and if Sugo goes too far, I won’t be shy about intervening and I have to wonder if he decided to tag along might have been only to meet this young man. Right now, I’ll allow Sugo to do his interrogation but he better not step out of line. After all, he’s not an Inspector; he’s an Enforcer so he must not cross the line. He needs to be careful.

“I’m sure you must be a good citizen but you just admitted that you’re fooling around with a minor.” Sugo says and continues, “It’s either you’re breaking the law or you’re not and what you’re committing is statutory rape and that is against the law.”

“I’ll be honest here. Yes Emilia is my girlfriend and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I do know at first glance it does make me look bad but our relationship is completely legal in every way.” Ty states and continues, “For starters, Emilia and I are not even sexually active.”

Now that’s a rarity these days to say the least. A rarity but not unheard of. As per what I’ve seen so far, this young man is a caring individual. He’s gentle and listens to other’s concerns. He’s obviously a hard worker. I for one would not be worried about this young man. Kou would worry me more.

“Why not?” Sugo asks. “That’s rather odd or are you waiting for when Emilia comes of age?” He adds and I can see that it was as if Sugo had stabbed Ty in the guts with a knife and then proceeded to twist the blade. The subject is clearly an uncomfortable subject for him.

“Our relationship is seen as odd by many but there are things more important than sex in a relationship.” He answers back and I couldn’t agree more. “Emilia is everything to me.” He adds.

“There’s nothing that confirms me that you’re not a sexual predator, just waiting for your chance to pounce.” Sugo states and if he keeps this up, I’ll really have to intervene. The poor boy doesn’t even realize that he has the right not to answer any of our questions. We don’t have any warrants at this time.

“I’m not a sexual predator in any way. It might be hard to understand or even believe but there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Emilia but I’m not stupid either.” Ty further defends himself and he seems quite confident and as long he’s showing this confidence, I won’t interfere and I’ll let him defend himself. “Could I have sex with Emilia? Yes I could but I won’t.” He adds.

“Why not?” Sugo further inquires and this is starting to get rather ridiculous.

I nudge Sugo with my elbow but he doesn’t remove his gaze from the young man. He’s so focused on this right now and he fails to see that his interrogation is pointless. This young man, yes is an adult but he’s not a threat to Emilia. I spoke to her during the incident today and I can tell she’s a smart young lady. She’s not a damsel in distress that needs to be rescued and she’s more than capable of defending herself.

“Because it would be irresponsible on my part if Emilia would become pregnant at this time.” Ty states and continues, “I’ll be graduating from university this year and although I’m already practicing and I am making money. It’s still not nearly enough for me to be able to support both Emelia and the baby.”

I couldn’t agree more. It takes great maturity for a man to step up and actually acts like a man. He knows and understands the risk. He understands it and furthermore, he understands his position that he’s in at the moment. At his age and the fact that he’s barely started his practice, it surely would not be the time to start having a family. He understands that he needs to create a solid foundation before everything else. Now that’s a man I could be proud of seeing with my granddaughter.

“Not to mention, Emilia also wants to further her studies after she graduates but she won’t be able to do that if she becomes pregnant.” Ty further explains his reasoning and again, I can’t disagree with that logic and hopefully Sugo can see that as well. The interrogation is over. “Abstinence is the safest form of protection and I’m not with Emilia to gain anything. We go way back and she is my closest friend and that’s more important to me.” He adds.

“I think you might be the most mature young man I’ve seen so far.” I voice out, catching Ty’s attention.

“Thank you.” He says.

“What if Emilia, after graduation just decides to break it. How would you handle that?” Sugo then asks and I can’t help but give him a sharp glare.

“I’d be upset, disappointed, hurt even but I’d respect her choice.” Ty answers without hesitation. “I can’t control her and won’t either. If I can’t make her happy then someone else will.” He adds and that was well said. I like this kid. I like this kid very much.

“You know, this man right here is Emilia’s grandfather.” Sugo voices out and he shouldn’t have done that. There’s a reason why it was unknown that they were related to my son. A mother doesn’t give her children her maiden name if you don’t mind the public knowing who the father of your children is.

“You’re Tomomi Masaoka?” Ty blurts out in surprise and I’m honored he knows my name. Surprised even.

“Yes, so you’ve heard about me?” I ask.

“Yes from Emilia but she told me you were dead.” Ty explains and that hurts but at least I know what my grandchildren have been told about me. “That you were involved in an explosion or something.” He adds and that piece of information catches my attention.

How would Emilia know I was caught in an explosion? Unless someone was there and saw it happened and yet if that’s the case and they were friends of her mother’s then why did they not save my son? Things are starting to make little sense but at least I’m getting something. These past few days, I’ve gained more information than I’ve been able to gather in the last sixteen years.

“Yes I was involved in an explosion but I survived.” I choose to say and Sugo takes the leash from my hands and gets Dime to follow him out of the clinic and that alone gives me some relief. This whole pointless interrogation is finally over. “Thank you again, doctor.” I add.

“Any time.” Ty quickly shoots back with a gentle smile as he stands up and leads me out of the examining room and hands me a thin card, “Here’s my card. If there is anything, just give me a call and I’ll be on my way.”

“Thank you.” I say as I insert the card inside my jacket pocket and head towards the door.

“Hey Tomomi.” Ty calls out before I can exit. I turn to meet his gaze and he’s grown rather serious as he comes closer towards me. “It didn’t come from me. You should speak with Tony Stark. You can find him at the Bay Area near Versailles Academy. I think you might be able to find answers to your questions but you didn’t hear it from me.” He says in a low tone.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I choose to say and he gives me another gentle smile and I exit the clinic.

This young man, he knows something. He knows something and I’m starting to think it might be something he shouldn’t. Perhaps he knows something about my son’s death and what truly happened that day. If that’s the case, he must have heard it from someone and that someone must have been from Emilia. If the children know about what happened to their father, it might explain why they are so good at being secretive. They’ve had to be secretive their whole lives but I need to know what really happened and now I have some leads to go with.

“Good kid.” Sugo voices out as he lets Dime into the back seat of the car and close the door. “I think your son would have liked him.” He adds and I agree. Nobuchika most certainly would have adored this young man but now I have to find this Tony Stark but why this man in specific?

“Yes, I think he would have.” I acknowledge as we enter the car. I start up the engine and I take the empty street.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Kougami**

Sometimes I wonder what in the hell am I doing with my life. Here I am, at forty-four and I’ve got nothing to show for it. Some would say that I’m wasting away while others would say considering what I am is a good thing. We Enforcers may have a better quality of life than before but the stigma still remains towards a percentage of the population.

Everywhere I look, doesn’t who or what it is. Everything has changed and yet nothing is different. Society is still as corrupted as it always was and that will never change no matter how much we want it to. No matter what, there will always be those at the top of the ladder to dictate the mass what to do or say. As for the rest, Akane married and went on to have a kid. Shion and Kunizuka also followed that path and tied the knot. They then also went on to have a child of their own. Even Pops has more than I do. Hell! Gino is dead and even he has more than I do.

When I was given the opportunity to return to Japan and resume my former position by Akane. To be honest, I didn’t take the offer just so I could get my old life back. I honestly thought if I took Akane’s offer back then, that maybe it would have given my life a bit more meaning than just being a simple mercenary. Perhaps, I might even be able to create some form of a future for myself but here I am with nothing. Thirteen years after returning to Sybil and everything is just the same with the only exception that I have more freedom. As for the other, everyone just keeps on moving forward and I’m unable to follow.

I don’t even know why I thought that I might be able to have a future with Akane when we were reunited at Shambala. I guess it was just wishful thinking. Of course she would have moved on after I had defected and gone rogue. But did she really have to marry that damn bastard? Like seriously? Why Sugo? She couldn’t have gotten any other guy? She’s beautiful and intelligent, she could have had anyone she would have wanted and yet she chose him of all people.

“Not in school, Red?” I ask when I see the red haired girl walk by to my table.

“Students have an off day. Mostly due to teacher conference.” She answers and that doesn’t surprise me. It feels like students now a day are always off from school. “What can I get you today?” She asks.

“How’s the tuna?” I inquire.

“Every day you've been coming in here and you've been asking me how the tuna is. Now, it was crappy yesterday, it was crappy the day before and guess what? It hasn't changed.” She quickly answers with a bit of amusement in her tone.

“I’ll have the tuna.” I state.

“No crust?” She further asks.

“No crust.” I quickly confirm and she inserts the order into her digital tablet.

“You know, you really should kill that habit.” She says, catching my attention as she points out at my pack of cigarettes. She never fails to try and persuade me to quit smoking. I’m starting to think she might have assigned herself that mission.

“It hasn’t killed me yet.” I reply back.

“Maybe you’d be able to taste how crappy the tuna is.” She quickly shoots back and that, I can’t argue. It’s true since I’ve started smoking; I’ve lost a lot of taste buds. Things just don’t taste as they used to and perhaps I should stop but I don’t see a reason why I should. One way or another, we all die eventually.

“No promises, Red.” I choose to say and add, “But, I’ll keep it in mind.”

She gives me a gentle smile before walking away to tend to another table when a set of footsteps catches my attention. The rhythm of the steps is familiar to me. The steps are a light steady pace that I’ve grown quite accustomed to much to my dismay. Of all places he could have gone to, he just had to come here.

“Thought I might find you here.”

I don’t bother to look up as he takes a seat in front of me and here I was, just hoping to have a meal in peace and quiet. God! I fucking hate this man!

“What do you want?” I ask, not really caring to know.

“You know from day one, you and I never got along.” Sugo states, not like it’s a big secret. I’ve always hated his guts. I just don’t like the guy. I can’t stand him; I can’t stand being in the same room with him. He’s just a pain.

“That’s because you’re an insufferable ass.” I shoot back.

“I could say the same for you.” He adds. At least he’s not denying about being an ass. Although, he isn’t wrong about me being an ass either.

“We’re both asses. There’s no denying that.” I state and I see Red make her way to my table and gently places my plate in front of me before giving a gentle smile and then she’s off to continue her run.

“I get the feeling that you only come here because of that girl.” Sugo quickly points out. He never fails to try and find an opportunity to pick on me. It doesn’t matter what it is, he’ll always try to turn everything I do into something shady or terrible. He’ll turn a simple misunderstanding like the hospital incident with Robb and twist it like I was preying at the kid. Like yeah, I was attracted to the boy but not because of the kid himself. Only because he resembles so much like Gino but never would I allow myself to push myself on a child. That’s just not me.

As for Red, I like the girl. She’s a good kid. To begin with, she’s intelligent, funny and kind. She’s not lazy and she works hard in order to make her dreams come true. How many kids these days even have a dream? They just live their lives as they are told but she’s different. She has a goal and she won’t stop until she achieves that goal. Who wouldn’t like a kid like that who has so much ambition? It’s refreshing to watch someone so young being full of so much life.

“She’s a good kid.” I state as I start eating my sandwich.

“Kougami, you know some will get the bad idea.” He quickly states and of course he’ll jump there right away. I honestly don’t care what people think. I know I’m not doing anything wrong and I don’t need to justify myself to anyone for that matter.

“It’s not like that. I just like the kid.” I state which might not help me in my case but I don’t care. I honestly don’t care what he thinks about me. I don’t have to prove myself to anyone other than myself. “What kind of a fourteen year old wants to be a doctor?” I ask him.

It’s true I’ve been coming here a lot but I didn’t start coming here for that girl. I didn’t even know her until she was the one assigned to my table. To be honest, I started coming here because I liked the owner of the establishment. I wanted to get closer to her, to try and get to know her but I quickly backed down when I noticed the wedding band on her finger. I also quickly discovered that she was the mother of Red and I had no intentions of being the one responsible of destroying a marriage. I didn’t want any part of destroying a family but I don’t think Red’s mother would ever cross that line anyway.

I must say that I find Red a very interesting kid. She’s young and yet she knows exactly where she’s going with her life. On the first glance, she seems like a troublesome teenager with her thick long hair dyed red. Her ears are decorated with quite a few piercings but I find it adorable on her. Her jewellery of choice are delicate and mostly simple studs with clear gems and pearl earrings on her lobe. It’s classy and her tattoo is hard not to notice.

“Tattoos are not viewed in good lights in the medical sector.” Sugo voices out and of course he’d pick on that like it’s a big deal. Of course, if Red was his daughter, he never would have allowed her to get a tattoo. Hell, I already know that he refused Shusei from getting a tattoo not too long ago. It was like the end of the world. “It’s going to be a pain to have it removed later on.” Sugo adds.

“No one is going to give a damn about the tattoo.” I quickly shoot back in Red’s defense. The poor girl has enough to deal with. She doesn’t need this dumbass to drag her spirits down. “Besides, it’s a purple butterfly with a name. It’s no big deal.” I add.

“And?” He says and he just irritates me the more he opens his damn mouth.

“For someone who claims to be so smart, you’re definitely dropping the ball on this one.” I blurt out as I continue chowing down on my lunch and continue, “The purple butterfly is an old symbol that was used on baby’s crib who’s twin died.”

“She confirmed this?” He asks as if this is an interrogation. He’s such a pain in the ass.

“Yes.” I quickly confirm.

“Why? She doesn’t even know you.” He quickly voices out as if it’s unusual for people to share personal things to others. As if it’s a taboo thing to do.

I’ve been coming here for quite some time. Of course Red didn’t tell me that her twin sister died shortly after she was born. I didn’t learn that until last week to be honest and I she only told me because I asked about her tattoo. I was curious about it and I was wondering if it had any meaning since it was so exposed. Especially since she had it done on her dominant hand so I assumed it must have been symbolic to her.

“I asked and she answered. End of story.” I state.

“Still. You better be careful.” He shoots another warning at me. Like seriously!? What’s his problem? No one in here cares that I talk to Red. Everyone that comes here talks to Red. It’s impossible not to talk to this girl and not like her. She’s bubbly and her energetic. Everyone that comes here loves her. Even as we speak, she’s talking to an elderly couple at the far end of the dining area like there’s no tomorrow.

“What do you want?” I ask as I finish my lunch. I know he didn’t just come here to warn me about not talking to that girl.

“I was helping Masaoka with his research. Can’t say that we’re going anywhere with those videos.” He tells me, not like he needed to tell me that. I already know that he’s helping Pops since it would take a long time if he were to do it all by himself. “On the other hand, it would seem Ginoza was a complete idiot.” He adds and that just rubs me the wrong way.

Gino might be a lot of things but one thing he wasn’t and that was being an idiot. Yeah, I’ve seen a few questionable videos so far but he’s just having fun with these unknown individuals. So far, I’ve been able to identify a few of the people in his video since we hear their first names but they remain complete unknowns.

“Shut your damn mouth.” I bark back.

“Kougami, I watched him with a blond girl drag a shark that was stranded on the beach back into the water. Do you realize how stupid that is?” He quickly defends his earlier statement and yeah, I’ve seen that video. Unlike him, I’m able to identify the name of that blond girl.

In many videos, Gino is often seen with that girl and after watching a few, I’ve come to realize that her name is Lara. From a few videos I’ve seen, it would seem that she lives in Australia which is a location that Gino is often at. I honestly don’t know how he managed to go there so often without anyone ever noticing but it would see that he and Lara were close friends. The antics they did showed just how comfortable they were with each other.

“Another video, he’s just sitting in front of a cardboard box eating a salad while another guy demonstrates how animals eat their food.” Sugo further adds and I can’t help but let out a small laugh at that one.

That’s another video I watch. In that video, Gino was definitely an Inspector at that point. I think it was during his first year to be honest. He was fully grown by then and the guy he was with was definitely not small. From what I saw in the video, the guy was definitely taller than Gino by a few inches and Gino was considered a tall man in Japan with a height of six feet. Anyhow, the guy in that video was another I was able to identify with the other videos I watched. His name was Bryan and by the few videos I was able to watch, it would seem he had a good friendship with Gino. Maybe not as close as Lara but he was still quite close.

“I saw that one.” I voice out and ask, “Did you watch the bloopers of that video?”

“There’s a blooper video? I don’t even want to see that.” He quickly shoots back, unable to hide his discouragement. It’s almost as if Gino wasn’t allowed to be goofy and silly on his spare time. Yes, I do agree some antics he did were kind of dangerous like that time he was singing a rope bridge. The planks could have broken any time, the bridge itself could have given way but he still did it. Nothing bad happened but it was still not the smartest move to do but he was having fun. Watching those videos has shown me a side of Gino that I never knew.

“Gino was having fun. So what? At least he had a good time.” I voice out and it gives me a sense of relief that at least I know that he had some fun in his life. That he was happy but it does make me wonder what happened to his friends. Did they ever learn that Gino had died? Did they try to contact him and thought that they had been ditched by one of their long-time friends? It does raise so many questions.

“Masaoka is starting to become quite obsessed with this.” Sugo says, not like I wasn’t aware but it’s not the same obsession like I had towards Makishima. My obsession was to kill him but Pops’ obsession is the sudden connection to those videos because in a sense it gave a piece of his son back to him.

A few times, Pops was brought to tears towards some of the video clips we watched. Most of them are videos where he’s doing some sort of activity with Lara. Those activities vary from video to videos but they are always pleasant to watch. It has however crossed my mind that perhaps Lara might be our mystery woman. She might be the girl Gino fell in love with and she might just be the mother of Robb and Emilia. We do know that blond hair is a recessive gene but the only thing that stops me from being absolutely certain is the fact that Lara is quite short. I’m fairly certain that she’s a tad shorter than Akane and if she was the mother of Robb and Emilia it would have affected their height. Although Robb is not the same height as his father, he’s not short either nor is Emilia. Their height is pretty much identical and they are either the same height as I am or almost.

When it comes to genes, Gino was already an anomaly to begin with. Maybe that’s why he was able to connect so freely to outsiders. It’s true that Pops is fairly tall and according to him, his wife was not a short woman either, none of them had green eyes nor did anyone in their family ever had blue eyes. And yet, Gino ended up with vibrant green eyes. There was less than nineteen percent chance of Gino acquiring green eyes and it would seem that his genes were passed down. However, Lara has blue eyes and that would only be a fifty percent chance of their children having green eyes and yet both twins got them.

“Not more than usual. He just wants to watch every single video clips he discovered because it’s the only thing he can visually see Gino.” I quickly state. There’s really no point in focusing on it at this point. Pops is old, just let him do what he wants before his time is up.

“Are you aware that he’s been trying to get an audience with an agent of SHIELD?” Sugo asks and I must say that’s news to me but it doesn’t surprise me either. It would only make sense if Pops would try and get in contact with some of SHIELD’s members. To begin with, Pops needs to play comedy, I get that but I know he’ll do whatever he can in order to be able to keep an eye on his grandkids.

“Probably in an attempt to try and get closer to his grandkids.” I state the obvious and add, “Just leave him be.”

“Kougami, there is a possibility that Masaoka might defect.” He then throws at me and I just want to laugh at that. There is no way that Pops would defect. He’s not stupid and it’s not his way either. Does he want to be closer to the kids? Yes, yes he does but he’ll do it his own way and on his own terms.

“Pops wouldn’t defect. It’s not the kind of thing that he would do.” I state and add, “He’s got his mind set to get to the bottom of who murdered Gino. He needs to do this so just let him be.”

“I hope you’re right.” Sugo voice out and I know I’m right.

Sometimes I feel as if Sugo is always trying to find something when there’s absolutely nothing there. Just like the other day when he was interrogating Emilia about the incident only for it to turn onto her boyfriend. And then, the same night he starts all over again but this time with the boyfriend himself. Like I get he wants to protect the innocent but sometimes just taking a step back allows you to take in the bigger picture. Did Emilia’s relationship with an older guy spark my attention? Yes it did but the guy is clean and from what I was able to quickly dig out, it would seem he’s been around Emilia for a very long time. They basically grew up together so of course their relationship grew into something more. Ty Borden is not someone I would be worried about.

“What?” I ask when I sense there’s still more in the back of his mind.

“It’s no secret that you liked Ginoza.” He tells me the rather obvious. Of course it’s no secret that I liked Gino. Actually I loved him and I still do even if he’s no longer with us. Not being there for him will always be my biggest regret.

“Yeah and he was none the wiser.” I quickly state. It’s one topic I don’t want to talk about. Especially not with him of all people.

“Masaoka told me about one night he overheard Ginoza talking on the phone. As per Masaoka, he was more than aware about you and Sasayama trying to get his affection. He thought the attempts were funny.” He says after a few minutes of silence and I have to control the urge not to stand up and punch him right in the jaw.

“That makes me feel a whole lot better. You’re doing a fantastic job.” I bark back.

“I don’t want to be the bad guy here. I just felt you had the right to know.” He quickly counters not that it matters. He’s still a giant ass and even if it was true that Gino was aware all along, it’s still not something I wanted to know. “You’re wasting away. I can tell that you’d be a great father just by how you act with that girl. You’re still young; it’s not too late to start a family of your own.” He adds and I’m starting to wonder if Akane might be the one pulling the strings here a bit. It’s no secret that she’s been trying to change me ever since I returned.

“Right…” I say with not much interest in my tone.

“You have great chemistry with Risa. Both of you are single and you both know each other well.” He state and yes Risa is a good woman but it would never work. Not because I’m an Enforcer or anything like that. Even when I was an Inspector, Risa and I never would have become an item. We were just not meant to be.

“It wouldn’t work out.” I tell him and it’s the truth. I won’t waste my time pursuing someone when I know it will only end up in failure. Risa and I will never be more than just friends.

“Why not?” He quickly asks. “You two are great together.” He adds and that’s true. We’re great together but only because we know each other well. We have an history, we’ve known each other for a very long time and that’s make working together great but that’s as far as it goes.

“Because I’m not Gino.” I admit and that alone will always be the reason why Risa and I will never be anything more than friends.

My wristcom suddenly starts beeping and so is Sugo’s. Here we go once again…

**XXX**

* * *

 

**XXX**

Just when I thought my day was going great, another crime occurs. Just when the city was being peaceful and quiet again, it all went downhill once again and it just seems to be one thing right after the other. At least, tonight it’s got nothing to do with a terrorist or some crazy ass shooting. But then again, it’s not a pleasant one either. Some guy decided it be a great idea to abduct a teenage girl as she was playing in the park with some of her friends. The guy was either drunk or an idiot, maybe a bit of both. You can’t be sane if you think it’s a good idea to abduct a girl in broad daylight in front of so many witnesses.

However, although we have so many witnesses that saw the abduction, we weren’t able to gather much information. The information that we did manage to get was quite questionable to say the least. The stories would constantly vary from one person to the other. To begin with, the description of the suspected man that did the kidnapping differed from one witness to the other. One said he was blond, another claimed that he had dark hair with a thick beard. The description varied so much that we just couldn’t use it at all. It was only thanks to Shion that we were able to get an idea of how the man looked like. She was able to hack into the street video cameras and was able to get a good mug shot of the man.

You’d think after seeing an abduction of a girl, your first instinct would be to call the authorities but only one called. The girl identified herself as Margaery and advised that she and her brother had just witnessed a girl getting shoved into a car by an unknown man. Akane then wasted no time to dispatch the unit and by the time we arrived at the scene, SHIELD was already there. It had absolutely nothing to do with them. It’s not like the scene was in their territory nor was the girl a subject of SHIELD and yet ever since the two terrorist attacks, it would seem as if it has given them the balls to interfere in our cases. The thing is, I can see right through their charade. They’re just trying to outdo us all in order to gain the citizen’s favour and push us aside to gain more territory.

Pops doesn’t believe that this incident is connected to the two previous cases and I hope that he’s right but this one is getting bad by the minute. The criminal kidnapped Annabelle Beaulieu around four in the afternoon and now it’s past eight and we still have not found her actual location nor were we able to get a status either. Anything could have happened to this girl by now and I have a bad feeling about this. Even though I hate SHIELD and I especially have an undying hatred for their agent Hawkeye, even I can’t argue against him being here. After all, I can’t deny that he isn’t good at what he does. At least, since we’ve been working this case with SHIELD, he hasn’t tried to pull any idiotic shenanigans like he had done back at the hospital.

“Hey Kou.”

I snap out of my thoughts when I notice Risa is coming towards me. I must say, I haven’t seen her in a while. To be honest, I thought she would have retired by now. I guess it can’t be helped. I wasn’t the only one who had feelings for Gino. I know she had something for him too and even though she gave hints, Gino never reciprocated. He did the exact same thing to Risa as he did to me and considering what Sugo told me, I wonder if he also found Risa’s attempts funny as well.

“Hey.” I acknowledge.

“What are your thoughts about Sibyl and SHIELD collaborating together?” She asks and to be honest I don’t like it. We don’t need them and if we allow them to continue this game, we’ll pay for it big time. They want to overshadow us and if we’re not careful, we’ll lose Paris and we’ll be pushed back until They’ve taken over France.

“It’s all a charade.” I voice out, my gaze locked onto Hawkeye in the distance.

This guy is driving me nuts. I’ve got to think about the case right now. Nothing else matters and yet all I can think about is that damn bastard. He’s a tad taller than I am but he’s massive. I just can’t beat his physical strength. I know if I tried to fight him, he’d tear me to shreds. Even if his partner had not intervened back then, he still would have beaten me. I just couldn’t match him when it came to brute force. Sometimes I wonder if he’s even human but compared to one of his comrade, he’s small. The one codenamed as Hulk is taller and larger than Hawkeye and I for one do not want to mess with neither of them. I’m not that stupid.

“What’s your story with that man?” Risa asks. So she’s noticed my obsession. I know Akane would be the first one to lecture me if she knew how obsessed I am towards that man. Not that I blame her. My obsession towards Makishima had caused more problems than anything else but this time it’s different. I feel as if he’s a magnet and he’s drawing me in. I don’t want to kill him or take the guy down. I respect his strength but I feel so drawn to him and I can’t explain it.

“I fought him. I lost and his partner tried to kill me.” I say.

“He won’t talk to me. Won’t even acknowledge my presence when I do.” Risa tells me and somehow it doesn’t surprise me. He won’t even listen to Pops and he sure doesn’t listen to Akane. He’s like a rebellious child that only does what he wants. His leader, the guy in the red, white and blue suit states that Hawkeye is a good agent and that he’s good at what he does but he’s not much of a team player. Well, not towards us anyway.

“At least he didn’t shove you into a janitor’s closet.” I voice out and Risa lets out a small laugh. I’m pretty sure the thought of me being trapped inside of a closet must be quite amusing to her. If only she knew, it was a thing that did happen. Fucking bastard.

“Say Kougami. Is it true…?” She asks and stops her sentence as if trying to find the right words. “About Ginoza. Is it true that he has a son and a daughter with an unknown woman?” She finishes her sentence and I can sense the hurt in her tone. I can tell that she so wanted to be the one. She wanted to be Gino’s girl so badly but in the end, he preferred someone else and I’d be ready to take a bullet to the head that it’s not Natalia Farrow. That woman is not Gino’s girlfriend if that’s even her fucking name.

“It’s true.” I admit. “They’re twins.” I add.

“So he really did live two lives.” Risa states with a bitter tone in her voice and I wish I could make things better for her but there’s nothing I can say or do that will ever make things better. We’ve talk about Gino’s passing and although I deserve it, Risa has never blamed me for his death. To her point of view, I did what I thought was best at the time.

Risa was the one who told me more about Gino’s death. She was the one who told me the brutality that occurred and it wasn’t caused by the injury he had received. Gino might have been on the ground bleeding but that’s not what killed him. He was murdered in the most brutal way anyone could ever die of and to this very day I wonder why Pops was spared. Why didn’t they murder Pops the same way they murdered Gino?

This waiting game is driving me crazy since I know how cases like these goes and time is not a factor that is on our side. Shion was able to locate the car of our unknown man but we found it abandoned at the Rouen port and who knows where he took our girl. The place is so enclosed that it could be a danger to enter the yard without a solid plan. At this point, if we don’t speed up our process a bit more, we’re going to lose our girl.

If it was just up to me, I would have stormed into the yard the moment we got here. I wouldn’t stop until I had Anabelle right in front of me but here I am waiting for an order. I can tell even Hawkeye is itching to be deployed.

I watch the guy pace around when he walks away from the group as he makes his way towards one of SHIELD’s paddy wagon and his partner follows shortly. Hawkeye quickly goes behind the paddy wagon and roughly opens the back door and as he swigs the doors open, two large canines leap out from the paddy wagon. I knew my former comrades had told me that Hawkeye and his partner were usually always seen with two large hounds, I never thought they were that big. One of them just sat next to Hawkeye and the head of this massive animal reaches almost his chest. Those are not hounds, they’re beasts.

Without a word, Hawkeye and his partner bolt into the shipyard followed by their massive hounds in tow and there’s no way I’ll let them outperform me as I sprint forward with my dominator in my hands. I hear Akane yell out something as I advanced into the yard. I didn’t look back and if she wants to reprimand me for my actions then so be it. If Anabelle dies, at least I’ll have the conscious that I did something to try and save her life. Sometimes in order to uphold the law we have to toss the book aside and just follow your actions through. I will not allow this girl to die. Not today! She’s going to live!

This place feels like one large labyrinth and I wonder if our guy came here knowing that it was all over for him. That he wouldn’t be able to escape and he chose this place knowing that law enforcements would have a hard time getting to him. By this time, he might have caused more damages that one can imagine. Maybe he… No I don’t want to think about that. It’s without a doubt that the man is sick but let it be that he’s not twisted either. Just let the girl escape this ordeal unarmed.

I feel my lungs are on fire as I continue running when suddenly something hits me in the stomach and I feel myself fall like a brick. The impact knocked the wind right out of me as I try to catch my breath when I feel something hard and heavy hit me in the back forcing me face first into the ground followed by another heavy blow to my shoulder.

My head feels kind of hazy as I struggle to catch my breath as I try to steel myself for the next blow that was surely to come when suddenly I hear a menacing snarl followed by a pitch yell of pain and panick. I shake my head to try and regain my full senses. I look towards the sound of the man yelling only to find one of the large hounds is mauling at the man’s arm violently to the point that I think it might just rip it off.

I try to regain my footing when I see a hand being extended to me to take. I look up and I see that it’s Hawkeye who’s got his eyes locked onto the aggressive scene as he waits for me to take his offer. To be honest, I don’t know why I quickly reached out to grab his hand. It was like a reflex, it felt like a habit to do as he helps me up to my feet before ordering the dog to take its distance from the man and it quickly obeys. However, the animal is ready to attack once more if ordered to.

I struggle the regain my breath and maybe Red is right. Perhaps it’s a sign that my lungs are not so good and they need help. I’m in no shape to continue this for another ten years. I’ll have to do something if I want to continue this line of work.

I watch Hawkeye walk towards our guy and pull him up to his feet when suddenly the guy goes ballistic and slams him head onto Hawkeye’s face and quickly lounges at his gear only to get violently shoved to the ground hard by the solider. Hawkeye’s balaclava has been torn off his face with only his lower half being hidden by his oxygen gear and proceeds to pound our guy with several punches to the head. Blood flies upward with each punch and I could have sworn that this man has completely lost it as he continues to shove his fists onto the man’s face until he suddenly stops with one fist in the air ready to give another blow as he looks towards me. I look over my shoulder, only to find Natalia and Akane looking on at the horrific sight. Natalia doesn’t seem to be fazed at the scene but the gruesome sight doesn’t give the same effect to Akane.

I look back at the man. He’s no longer moving, his face is all bloodied and deformed and I wonder if he’s even still alive as Hawkeye gets back on his feet. His face is soaked in the criminal’s blood and backs away from the mess he just made as he regains his composure. He doesn’t say anything as he walks away from the man and picks up the body of Anabelle who had been lying on the cold ground and I wonder if the girl is alive or not…

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to use the ending for my fic How Psycho-Pass should have ended. So yes Gino died in this with his throat slit and Masaoka lived instead. I know, it's perfect right!? :D


End file.
